A Fairy Tale
by waffleman1314
Summary: Nothing is more embarrassing than your mom sitting you down and telling you that you're some mythological creature and you might just start showing signs of it. But what's worse- when she's totally right and it's entirely awkward.
1. The Worst Revelation Ever

**So, I decided to do one of those 'unthinkable' odd stories that only pops up in my brain in dreams and stuff. But, you know, perhaps it's my inner girl that was screaming 'FAIRIES' or perhaps it was my sister reading about mutants and the combined watching of X-Men and that show my mom was watching with the fairies...I don't know, you tell me- is this any count at all? xD -AJ ThaPlatypus**

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I ran into the house and hurriedly slid into my seat at the table. Mom always gave Ferb, me, and our friends some pie after a long day of inventing, playing, and exploring this wonderful world of ours. Running my hands through my red hair, I waited patiently for her to set out our pie. Ferb sat next to me, Baljeet next to him, Buford opposite of me, and Isabella on my other side. Irving ran in quickly and grabbed the seat between Isabella and Buford. Mom set out our plates and handed us each a fork.

"Well, dig in!" she said cheerily. She watched us all hungrily stab our forks into the pie and looked at each of us individually enjoying it. Her eyes rested on me, turned to Isabella, and then flicked back to me quickly. "Phineas, can I have a quick word with you in the living room when you're done, sweetie?"

"Sure thing, Mom!" I said cheerily. I took another bite of pie and smiled. Baljeet took the whipped cream off of his. Buford took it and made beards out of it on himself. Ferb's pie was gone in seconds. Laughing, I flicked some whipped cream at him. That started a full out food fight. Candace walked in and got creamed.

"You guys are so busted!" she raged. "Just you wait until Mom sees this! Mom!"

"Sheesh, Candace," I blinked, watching her run off to get our mom. "You'd think that having fun was a crime around her."

"You're telling me!" Buford spread his arms. "The only thing Candace and I have in common is that we're both terrified of little Suzy…eesh, that girl gives me the creeps. You don't know, man! You just don't know!"

"Buford, I still don't get that," I chuckled. "Don't worry, she's not here."

"Well, time to clean that mess up," Ferb said. He pulled out the automatic mess cleaner we'd invented and pressed the lone button. Within three flat seconds, the entire room was spic and span. Even our plates put themselves away. Mom walked in with Candace.

"No! But they were! They were throwing whipped cream and it was everywhere!" Candace whined. "That's not fair it was right here!"

"Candace, the Bust Accord clearly states that you can't bust twice in one day, we've been over this," Mom frowned. "Go to your room."

"Yes, Mom," Candace sighed. She walked past us dejectedly and headed upstairs to her bedroom. Once the door to her room slammed shut, Mom turned and faced all of us with a smile. She sighed.

"Alright, it's time you kids got home," Mom said.

"Aw," they sang in unison. She ushered them out of the door as quickly as possible. I ran to the door and waved at them happily.

"See you guys tomorrow!" I called. I smiled wide and watched them all smile in turn and wave back. Mom pulled me by the shirt collar back into the house and shut the door abruptly. Frowning, I wondered what had her so frazzled. "Mom, are you okay?"

"Phineas, you and I really need to talk, sweetie," she said, brushing her hair away from her face. She looked up at Ferb. "Could you go to your room? This is a private discussion I need to have with your brother, okay?"

"Okay," Ferb replied quietly. He ran upstairs to do something. I had a bad feeling this had something to do with my dad. She always sent Ferb away when she was talking about my biological father. Perry walked up beside me and chattered.

"Oh, there you are, Perry," I half-smiled.

"Yes, yes!" Mom told me. "Bring Perry as well."

"Okay?" I frowned. I picked him up and walked into the living room. She motioned for me to sit down. Doing so, I set Perry down beside me and started to stroke his back. "Mom, is this about my dad?"

"Yes, Phineas, it is," she sighed, sitting down next to me. "He was a fae."

"He was a what?" I knit my brow in confusion.

"A fae," she repeated. "That's a simple, non-feminine way of saying that your father was a fairy."

"Say what?!" I sat back.

"Phineas, if you give me a minute, I'll explain," she said quickly. "Your father was a fae that could talk to animals. Which means, yes, he did have wings like one would imagine on a dragonfly. So you and Candace…are half-fae and can talk to animals."

"But Candace doesn't have wings," I pointed out. "And neither do I."

"Not all half-fae do," she told me. "And they don't get their wings until they're about ten, like you. So, we don't know if you'll have wings yet or not."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "Mom, I thought I was a normal kid! I thought I was just like everyone else. And now you're telling me that I could sprout wings at any given moment? Am I going to be some kind of freak?"

"Sweetie, you're not a freak," she placed a hand to her forehead. "You're unique in every way. Just because you might have wings doesn't mean anything."

"Exactly," Perry looked up at me and smiled. I jumped back from shock.

"I can understand you…" I breathed. I turned to my mom quickly and bit my lip. "Am I a freak already?"

"No, baby, you're not a freak," she said, enveloping me in a hug. She stroked the back of my head gently. "Your father was a great person even if he was a fae. Of course, if I'd have known that he was a fae then, I might have been less ready to marry him."

"O-okay," I nodded. The rest of the evening went by pretty normal from there. We ate dinner around the table as a family, and Dad, Ferb's biological father, told some of the worst jokes I've ever heard. But, we all laugh anyways, because, like it or not, laugh or no laugh he won't stop. He's less likely to stop if you laugh, though.

After dinner, I ran upstairs and got ready for bed. Ferb was occupied in the bathroom taking a shower, so I took the time to talk to Perry a little and get used to hearing him speak clearly.

"So, it only works if I know I have the ability?" I blinked.

"Pretty much," he nodded. "As an animal, we respect the fae that can talk to us. But, granted, I still think it's odd that fairies really do exist. I never met your dad, but wow. When she told Candace…"

"Ha, I bet that was fun," I laughed. "Does she speak to animals?"

"She could if she'd acknowledge she's a fairy," Perry snorted. "The girl is such a skeptic. She has no concept of her own world."

"I bet," I raised my eyebrows. Just then, I felt oddly hot. Then I was cold. Then, there was a small pain in my shoulder blades. I looked left and right curiously. "Perry, something does not feel right…"

"Do a one-eighty turn for me, will you?" Perry asked. I did as I was asked and stopped. He sighed. "Pull your pajama shirt off."

"Okay…" I said. I pulled it off. Perry drew a short breath. "What?"

"I think you're sprouting wings, kiddo…" he winced.


	2. Really Bad Timing

**Wow, so lots of positive feedback that I didn't expect! Thus, I will continue this story. :) -AJ ThaPlatypus**

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No sooner than the words had left Perry's bill, Ferb walked in and saw me with my pajama shirt off. Luckily for me, my back was facing away from him, but it was still unfortunate, as the possibility for him to see was still up in the air. He cast a questioning look at me and leaned over to see Perry examining my back. Granted, he was still acting like a pet, which was a good thing. I had hoped that he wouldn't start doing odd human things like stand on two paws or something like that to make me feel more comfortable. Still…he was staring intently at my back, which only made the moment even more awkward.

"Can I quote a friend of ours and politely ask, 'what'cha doin,' Phineas?" Ferb blinked. I grinned and quickly pulled my shirt back on. Grabbing my ear, I scratched it nervously. Perry sat back a little, a tad annoyed that I'd pulled the shirt down without his request.

"I was just…applying lotion," I lied. I heard Perry give a sarcastic huff behind me. "You know that dry skin can lead to itchiness, cuts, and rashes. It's a growing problem."

"Okay then," Ferb rolled his eyes. I walked past him and locked myself in the bathroom. Glad to be away from everyone else for the first time in my life, I pulled my shirt back off and angled the mirrors so that I could see my back for myself. It was the weirdest thing, to see two places along my shoulder blades where my wings were growing in. I must have stared for a long while, because the next thing I knew my mom was knocking on the door and asking if I was okay.

"Phineas, honey, are you okay?" she repeated. "Is everything all right?"

"No," I said flatly.

"Can I come in there?" she asked.

"I suppose," I sighed. She twisted the handle and it made a clanking noise. Frowning, I unlocked the door and sat down on the closed toilet. Poking her head in, she cast me a confused look. "Mom! Come in and close the door, I don't want Candace or Ferb to see!"

"Okay! Okay!" she exclaimed. She walked in and shut the door behind herself. "What don't you want them to see, sweetie?"

"It's…it's my back…" I swallowed.

"What?" she blinked at me. I pointed to my back and made a scared face. She tilted her head and walked over to me slowly. "Phineas are you okay?"

"Remember what you told me about?" I said, my voice cracking a little. Her eyes got wide. She grabbed me by the shoulder and turned me around so that my back was facing her. I heard her gasp and felt her cool hand touch my warm shoulder blades. "Mom…"

"Honey, you're gonna be fine," she said, but the tone of her voice wasn't that reassuring. "But now I know I have to make some arrangements for you…"

"Arrangements!" I exclaimed. "What do you mean by arrangements?!"

"Phineas, sweetie, calm down!" she said, grabbing me by the sides of my face and kneeling down in front of me. I looked away from her. "Look at me. Phineas Flynn, look at me, please."

"M-m-hmm," I whimpered, but I flicked my eyes back to meet hers. The tears falling down my cheeks were also running over her fingers. She took her thumbs and wiped them away from my face.

"Look, you have to be with other kids like you," she told me. I bit my lip. I knew where this was going. "You need to be in your father's world so you can cope with this. I know that means you can't go to school with your friends this fall, but it's better for you to be around other kids like you."

"But why?" I sniffled. "I don't fit in, not in their world, and not in ours."

"Phineas, you just found out about this today," she half laughed at me. "You fit in wonderfully with your friends, and you'll fit in wonderfully with the new friends you make at the fae school. You're a friendly kid, and you can get along with just about anybody. I can even send Perry with you if you like, to keep you company."

"Wait, is it a boarding school?!"

"Phineas, I'm sorry, but I have to do this! I promised your father!" she said, perhaps a little more forcefully than she meant to. I bit my lip and kept my mouth shut, letting my eyelids twitch only a little. "Just finish brushing your teeth and head to bed. We can discuss this tomorrow."

Standing up, she left the bathroom without another word. I stood there, staring at the half-open door for a moment, and I was rudely awakened when I saw Candace frowning down at me. It must have been her turn to use the bathroom.

"Don't you have a bed to get into?" Candace growled. "And put your shirt on, you don't look right without one."

"Sorry, Candace…" I grumbled. I picked up my toothbrush and squeezed out a line of toothpaste onto it. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Shirt, Phineas," she said, setting her teeth. I frowned at her. "And what is so wrong with brushing your teeth over the sink like a normal person so you don't get toothpaste and spit everywhere?"

"None of your beeswax," I said, leaning over awkwardly to spit out some of the foam.

"Phineas, MOVE!" Candace said. She pushed me a little, which set me off balance. I fell into the laundry basket unceremoniously. Realizing what she'd done, she ran over and pulled me out. On seeing my back, she screamed and dropped me again. "Phineas! What did you do to your back?!"

That's when Ferb ran in. I turned my head around to see him staring at my back as well. Great, now I really was the family freak. Perry scampered in and bit the edge of his bill much like a human would have bit its lip. Yeah, this was not going to turn out well. Not in this universe. Not in any.

"Yes, what is on your back?" Ferb frowned, obviously slightly creeped out.

"I…I…Candace you know…Mom told you…I just…leave me alone!" I cried. I leapt up and bolted downstairs. Not really caring anymore, I bolted outside and stood alone in the night, crying to myself. A hand fell on my shoulder. "Ferb…I'm sorry, I just…"

"I-it's okay," Ferb said, trying to hide his confliction with the topic. "I just wanted to know what happened if you were okay, that's all."

"No, I'm not," I sobbed. I wrapped my arms around myself and scrunched my shoulders up. Pain streaked through my already sore shoulder blades. Wincing, I bit my lip. "Ferb, I'm a freak. A little freak of nature."

"What do you mean?" Ferb asked me. He blinked.

"I-I'm half…half fairy…" I said, my face twisting with embarrassment. I choked back another sob. "I'm only half-human, and now I have to deal with this abnormality; growing wings. It hurts; both physically and mentally."

"It's not so bad," Ferb shrugged. "Just think about it like this; you won't need a plane to fly anymore, you can just use your wings after they grown in."

I laughed at his small joke. If anyone knew how to make someone smile, it was Ferb.

"Thanks, bro," I half-smiled. He simply nodded and went back in the house.

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**Phineas and Ferb- best bros regardless of awkward situations like this one. **


	3. Center Stage

**Long update, guys, it was six Word doc pages long! Be prepared; it's Phinabella time! -AJ **

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The next morning, I heard the alarm clock go off and leapt out of bed. It hadn't been intentional, of course; that thing had scared the crap out of me. I landed on the floor in a heap of dirty clothes. Oops. I was supposed to put those away last night, but I'd been too busy freaking out over my bad luck. And hey- where on Earth was my shirt? Yeah, that's what everyone wants to see at seven in the morning. A topless Phineas. Quickly snatching up a shirt from off of the floor, I pulled it over my head and ran off to the bathroom.

I used the toilet, and then washed my face off after I'd cleaned my hands. It was a nice way to wake up, usually; to just splash water all over my face and smile toothily at the mirror, telling myself that today was gonna be the best day ever. Now, I was staring into my confused eyes with a lump in my throat. This was all going too fast. Wringing my hands out to get the water off of my hands, I noticed a faint amount of glittering dust had fallen on the counter. _Oh, lovely. Pixie dust or whatever it's called. Just what I needed. _

Frowning, I wiped my hands off and went back into my bedroom. Ferb was still fast asleep in his bed, but I didn't have the will to wake him. On a normal morning, I would have done anything in my power to get him out from under the covers. But, today was no normal day, and I was feeling less normal than ever. Thankful that he was out cold, I changed my pajamas to day clothes and ran downstairs. A soft padding sounded behind me. I turned around quickly to see Perry trying to catch up with me.

"Chill, radio flyer," he huffed. "You walk way to fast to consider that walking still."

"Well, I'm sorry that I'm getting up early," I sighed. I made my way to the kitchen and started fixing myself a bowl of Fruity Rainbow Flakes. I know the cover art is girly, but the corn flakes mixed in with the fruity crystalline bites are just so irresistible. Used to a normal routine, I thought Perry would go to his bowl and wait to be fed, but he actually stood up on two paws, walked over to where the food was, opened the can, and dumped it in his own bowl. I blinked at him in utter shock. "What just happened?"

"I got breakfast, can I use a fork, please?" Perry asked me. "I don't want your mom asking why there's platypus footprints on the countertop."

"Um…okay?" I said, half-closing one of my eyes. "But how can you do that? You're behaving like Ferb or the other…full humans would. How come you don't do this around us?"

"Phineas, can you keep a secret?" Perry said as if he hadn't heard me. I handed him a fork and watched him pick through the meal as a human would. Nodding, I kept my eyes on his peculiar behavior. "Okay, well, I'm a secret agent. And, before you get mad like last time, no, I'm not allowed to tell you. Technically, Monogram could fire me for standing on two paws in front of you, but let's cut to the chase- you're a magical being, so you don't have to follow those rules."

"Well, I suppose that's a valid point," I raised my eyebrows. "So that's where you run off to every day."

"Yeah," Perry nodded, still concentrating on his food.

"I can't tell anyone, can I?" I sighed.

"Nope," he shook his head. Shaking off the thought, I finished up my cereal, deposited my bowl in the sink, and then strolled outside to enjoy the crisp morning air before the heat started to set in. The sky was a lovely shade of peach that caressed the yawning sun as it rose above the horizon in the east. Sighing, I tried to ignore the pain in my back by watching it rise for a little while.

My thoughts were soon awoken by one of the most natural sounds ever. The gate to the backyard creaked open to reveal an energetic Isabella. Panicked thoughts started to fly through my head. She batted her eyes and smiled at me. I laughed nervously- was that just in my head? It wouldn't be a good thing to let her know. She sees me as just her cool friend across the street. I decided to play it cool.

"Hey, Phineas," she greeted. "What'cha doin'?"

"Hey, Isabella," I said, trying to return her smile. I instinctively grabbed at my left ear and started to rub it. It was a nervous habit, of sorts. "I was just getting some fresh air. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

_Aw, man, I had to use the word beautiful! Now she's gonna see through that…_

"Yes, yes it is," she laughed. She twisted one strand of her hair. "So, I was wondering if you'd…you'd like to…"

"To what?" I blinked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Perry bound outside and run for the side of the house on all fours. _Hmm, someone's got to get to work._ Isabella didn't catch it. It all made sense now.

"Well, there's a dance later…and I was wondering if you wanted to come…with…me?" she asked, swallowing hard. My eyebrows shot up. _Do it! Do it! It's a prime opportunity here! You might never get it again!_

"Shut up!" I said under my breath.

"What?" Isabella tilted her head.

"Er, I was…you know I would love to go, is it formal?" I laughed nervously. _Great, you responded to your own mental battle, that's really mature._ Her expression lit up like candles on a birthday cake.

"You would?" she smiled.

"Of course I would," I nodded. "Sounds like fun."

"Awesome!" she exclaimed. "It's informal, by the way. You can wear whatever makes you comfortable. It's a Fireside Girls dance, if you were curious. We're celebrating our success."

"Wow, so tonight's gonna be really special, isn't it?" I grinned, happy to know that she was happy.

"More than you know," she said airily. _Whoa, what was that supposed to mean?_

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrows. Her cheeks turned a deep shade of pink. I chuckled and walked closer to her. She pulled her hair back behind her shoulders and stood up a little straighter.

"So, what are you guys doing today?" she said, quickly changing the subject. "I noticed an extreme lack of Ferb."

"Well, he's still asleep, to my knowledge," I shrugged. She gave me an inquisitive look. "I think he might have been feeling a little…nauseous…last night. He's probably sleeping it off so we can do something later."

"Oh," she said with a chuckle. "It's just really weird to see you so far apart. Almost as if something was bothering you two or something."

"Bothering? Nothing's wrong, no, no, I never said anything was wrong at all," I said quickly, grabbing my ear again. "Nothing abnormal here, just a normal kid with a normal life and nothing abnormal about him."

"Phineas, are you okay?" she frowned.

"Yeah," I lied, my voice cracking a little. "There is nothing wrong with me, I am perfectly normal."

"You're acting kinda funny," she told me. "And your voice squeaked."

"That's, um…er…puberty…" I said, not thinking about what I'd said.

"Puberty? We're _ten,_ Phineas," she said, her eyebrows scrunching up on her brow. She reached a hand out to my shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

"That's not a good idea!" I exclaimed, jumping back. I tripped over my own bare feet and fell back onto the ground. Isabella raised her eyebrows at me. "Sorry…sunburn. I have sensitive skin…not fun."

"Is that what this is about?" she asked. _Yes! An escape!_

"Y-y-yes, n-not at all," I muttered. I jumped up and brushed myself off. "What time to I need to be ready by?"

"About six, I'd say," she said slowly. "Like I said before, it's informal, so just make sure you're clean and actually wearing clothes."

"Alright," I laughed. I waved at her as she turned and left. It could have gone worse. The last thing she needed to know about was my wings growing in. Satisfied with the success and the fact that I'd be alone with Isabella tonight, I strutted back into the house with a much more chipper attitude than I'd been in when I'd woken up. Everyone else was seated around the table eating breakfast.

"Why does this spoon have platypus food on it?" I heard my mom say as I walked in. Whoops. She turned and saw me walking in. "Morning, sunshine. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, Mom, thanks," I smiled. Candace gave me an awkward look.

"What's got _you_ in such a good mood?" she asked, her voice full of distaste for whatever I might say.

"I'm going to a dance with Isabella this evening," I grinned. Both Mom and Ferb clapped cheerily. Dad gave a light-hearted, 'whoo-hoo' and gave me a thumbs up. "Yeah, she came over and asked if I wanted to go, so I said yes."

"Good on ya, Phin!" Dad smiled even wider.

"Looks like those wings have given him a lift," Ferb remarked jokingly. Everyone except for Candace laughed.

"I still don't think he's a fairy," Candace rolled her eyes.

"You jealous?" I smirked.

"No!" Candace said obstinately. I could tell in her eyes that she was simply resentful of the attention it was giving me from our parents. That, and Candace had always been a daddy's girl. She picked up her dishes and dumped them in the sink sloppily. "Phineas, it's your turn to wash them."

"Sure thing, Candace," I nodded. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna wait until everyone else is done, though."

Candace let out an aggravated growl, and then promptly stomped her way upstairs to her bedroom. I watched her as she walked away, but everyone else, who was quite used to her usual attitude, turned back to their meals and continued to eat as if it was none of their concern. When they'd finished, they piled the dishes in the sink for me to clean. I grabbed the stool, propped it up under the cabinet, and began to fill the sink with water and soap.

The dishes went by quite smoothly, so I had plenty of time to finish getting ready for the day and join Ferb out back for some Ping-Pong. Once we'd played that for about an hour, it was lunchtime, so we headed inside for some quick peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and then went back outside to brainstorm for tomorrow's Croquet Y-8 match. We'd get Buford to play; we always did, as long as we came up with something cool to do. At about five, we wrapped it up and headed inside for dinner. Well, I was actually eating at the dance with Isabella, so while Ferb ate with the rest of the family, I decided to work in a shower.

I grabbed an outfit for later, consisting of black jeans, a collared orange and white striped shirt, some black socks, and a clean pair of underwear, and then I made a beeline for the bathroom. Tossing my clothes on the floor, I turned on the shower faucet to warm and started to undress. I pulled off my shirt and took a quick glance over my shoulder in the mirror. Right now, the wings were just two irritated-looking bumps on my shoulder blades. That shouldn't be a bother for tonight, though. No one could see it. Convinced that I'd be fine, I finished pulling all of my clothes off and hopped in the shower.

The water was extremely hot, so I looked back to check on the temperature I'd set it at and realized I'd forgotten to turn the cold handle as well. I fixed that and instantly began to go through my normal showering routine. Shampooing came first, since it was the fastest. I put the soap in my hair and made sure to clean out any possible dirt or sweat. Next, I used a bar of soap to lather up a washcloth and proceeded to scrub the grime off of my body. (Ping-Pong really works up a sweat). After that, I made sure to wash my face with a special facial cleanser that our mom made us clean with. I don't understand that; I don't even have acne.

Gratified that I was clean, I turned both of the handles until the water turned off. I grabbed my towel and instantly began to rub it over my hair. Once I was certain that it was ninety percent clean, I then wiped my face dry and continued on to dry the rest of my body. It was nice to be clean so early. Next, I pulled on my underwear and pants so as not to feel awkward, and then I applied deodorant. (One can never be too certain). I pulled my shirt over my head and reached in the cabinet for ibuprofen. That would reduce my fever and ensure that Isabella could touch me without worrying about me being hot. I wasn't about to let fairy wings get in the way of tonight.

Frowning, I swallowed the pill and reached for the hair dryer. It was five forty. I had about fifteen minutes before I had to meet up at Isabella's house. After drying my hair, I combed through it at least thirteen times for good measure and then pulled my socks on. I ran out of the bathroom to find some shoes. The first pair I came across, I scooped them up and ran out of the front door, pausing only a moment to say good-bye to my parents and Ferb. (Who knows where Candace was). I appeared on the doorstep of the Garcia-Shapiro's home at precisely five fifty-nine and forty-nine seconds. Isabella answered the door when I rang.

"Silly, you could have put your shoes on, six was a rough time," she giggled. I blushed.

"Sorry," I laughed uneasily. "I thought I was going to be late."

"No, no, you're fine," she smiled. "Do come inside! Don't stand out on the doorstep, please, come in!"

"I suppose I shall," I chuckled, stepping in the doorway and walking over to the side. Isabella looked really pretty. She was wearing her orange and brown Fireside Girls uniform, but it still looked dazzling. "You look nice."

"Thanks," she said, turning red. "You do know that I wear this quite often around you, don't you?"

"I…yeah," I said bashfully. She laughed and gave me a small hug. Startled, I wasn't prepared to hug her back.

"Thanks for coming with me, Phineas," she whispered. I cautiously put my arms around her as well and smiled smugly. Man, that felt nice. And she didn't seem to mind, either. It was usually quick awkward hugs because I didn't want her to get the wrong idea and freak out because I liked her. But she wasn't pulling away, so that was a good sign.

"You're welcome," I told her. "The pleasure is all mine."

That received a giggle.

"Alright, Isa, are you ready to go? Is Phineas here, yet?" Ms. Garcia-Shapiro called. She came in and we parted awkwardly. "Ah, I see that he is! Well, tell him to pull his shoes on and we can get out to the car."

"Oops," I blinked. I dropped down and slid my sneakers on quickly. Both mother and daughter laughed.

"Well, let's go, you two!" she chortled. I hopped up next to Isabella and followed her to their sports sedan. We hopped in the middle row and buckled ourselves down. Her mom slid into the driver's seat and started the car up. Isabella propped her chin up with her arm on the armrest and looked at me with a smile.

"So, what have you and Ferb been up to all day?" she asked. "He did come join you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did," I laughed. "We played a little Ping-Pong and then we brainstormed for tomorrow's Croquet Y-8 match. It's gonna be awesome. You wanna join?"

"Yeah!" Isabella said excitedly. "It's always fun hanging out with you."

The car ride went pretty much like that all the way up to the Danville Coliseum, where the Fireside Girls End of the Summer Banquet (yikes, what a long name) was being held. We exchanged casual banter and talked about the weather. It seemed to be going pretty well. Once we made it to the Coliseum, we walked inside and grouped up with the rest of her troop.

"Hey, guys!" Isabella waved. Most of the girls gasped and shrieked. What was the big deal? I guess they were all excited to see Isabella. Isabella signaled for them to calm down a little bit and blushed.

"Didn't quite expect to see Phineas without Ferb," Ginger laughed.

"Nonsense, I wouldn't bring Ferb on a date," I turned red. _Whoops. I said date._ The girls squealed even more.

"Date?" Isabella's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess, er…it's okay to call it that?" I stuttered. Another round of gasps and shrieks from the Fireside Girls. Both Isabella's and my cheeks flushed an even more brilliant shade of scarlet. Adyson grinned stupidly.

"HE LIKES YOU BACK, DOESN'T HE?!" she exclaimed. Isabella turned her head sharply at me, embarrassed. Funny thing was, I'd turned my head the same way so that we were locking eyes. Well, we both kinda missed that.

"You like me?" I blinked.

"You like _me_?" she blinked back.

A chorus of 'aw' rang out in front of us. We both reddened even more. I figured now was as good as any to make my move. Mustering up my courage, I offered Isabella my hand and nodded at the busy dance floor. She raised her eyebrows a little.

"Do you…want to, um, want to dance?" I asked her. I saw her eyes glitter with excitement as she slipped her soft hand into mine. We walked out to the middle of the dance floor and slow danced for a little while. It was nice, to be able to hold her close without feeling like she was going to feel uncomfortable. The dance went on quite smoothly after that. Suddenly, the head of the Fireside Girls of America stood up on the large podium at the back of the room and tapped on the microphone to get our attention.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" he said. _I just narrated that…_

We found our seats at Isabella's table quickly and focused our eyes on him. He waited for everyone else to get seated before speaking again. Smiling, he brushed his messy bangs out of his face.

"Welcome to the ninetieth annual Fireside Girls of America End of Summer Banquet!" he shouted. Clapping filled the room for a few seconds. Once it stopped he continued. "I'd like to welcome those who aren't from Danville and thank you for coming out here this year. Can I get something from Danville's own troop, Troop 46321!"

"Whoop!" came the excited cheer of the ten girls at our table. I clapped and cheered for them as well.

"Well, we'd like to commemorate the top five badge-holders this year and reveal the girl out of those five nominated as this year's MVT- Most Valuable Trooper!" he grinned. We watched with anticipation as he called up a Brenda Song, a Haley Pickett, a Donquisha Rivers, and a Stormm Goodwin. "And, from our very own Troop 46321, Isabella Garcia-Shapiro!"

I cheered as I watched her mount the stage and take her place next to the other four girls. They all shook hands and faced forward. The man walked over to the side of the stage and received a small medal from someone behind the big curtain. He returned to center stage and pulled out a small notecard.

"And the winner of this year's MVT is…" he said slowly. Somewhere, there was a drumroll, but I didn't see any drums. Darn indiscernible music source. "Isabella Garcia-Shapiro!"

He placed the medal around her neck and congratulated her. The entire troop (plus me) jumped out of their seats and started clapping and cheering wildly. She came down after he dismissed them and I gave her a tight hug.

"Nice job!" I smiled at her. She shrugged and giggled a little. The rest of the night continued on like a dream. We danced a little bit more and talked about her progress in the troop. At one point, we sat down and ate an actual meal, but once we were finished we hopped back up and danced even more. After a good hour or so of dancing, I excused myself to go get us a few cups of punch.

I grabbed two cups, poured us each a glass and worked my way back through the crowd to her. Of course, I found her with all of the other girls from her troop as well as, to my surprise, Baljeet, Buford, Django, and Irving. Cool. I wish Ferb had gotten invited, but, then again, Ferb wasn't really up for late night parties with girls. Ah, well, he'd get there someday I suppose.

"Hey, guys," I nodded, handing Isabella her cup of punch. She thanked me with a small nod and took a sip.

"What's up, dinner bell?" Buford said.

"Nothing much, just enjoying a fun date night," I winked. That's when my fever reducer decided to stop working. Great. Isabella noticed that I was sweating a little and looked at me curiously.

"Phineas, are you okay?" she asked. She put her hand to my forehead and instantly brought it back, yelping a little in pain. "Phineas, you're freakishly hot!"

"I…I am?" I swallowed. I suppose I wouldn't be as hot to myself as I was to her. My hand went for my ear again and I smiled at everyone nervously. Then their eyes all got really wide. "What? What's wrong?"

"How long have you been wearing those wings?" Baljeet raised an eyebrow. My heart leapt into my mouth. The entire room was staring. Unable to suppress my scream, I ran out, more embarrassed than I'd ever been in my life.

* * *

**So, what reactions will everyone have? Will Phineas be okay?**


	4. True Friends

**"Faerie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary, and dungeons for the overbold." -J.R.R. Tolkien. -AJ **

* * *

I ran out into the street and fell down onto the pavement of the road sobbing. It was pure luck that no cars were running on this road tonight, due to the fact that it had been blocked off for the dance. Nothing in the world, I felt, could console my embarrassment. I cared not to look; I didn't want to see myself with wings. But I had to accept the hard, cold truth of it all. There was no escaping the fact that I no longer belonged around my friends. Why, now that they'd all seen my wings, I was most certain that I'd be ridiculed by even Baljeet. And to think of what Isabella might have thought when she saw it- I buried my face in my arms and continued to sob just as the thought.

As I sat there, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around quickly and saw Isabella and Baljeet looking at me with concerned faces. Backing away a little, I hid my face with my arm and tried not to look at them. Sighing, Isabella knelt down next to me and pulled my arm away gently.

"Phineas, I promise, we'll find out who put those on you, it'll be okay," she said, sounding confident about the situation. So they still assumed they were fake wings. She reached a hand over to one cautiously. "Here, let me help you with that."

"That won't work," I said quietly, my voice squeaking.

"Come on, Phineas," Baljeet said with a smile. "Nothing embarrasses you that bad. Not even when Buford makes you look bad do you get so easily embarrassed. Just let us help you so you can continue enjoying your night."

"I-I meant they won't come off…" I stammered.

"What?" they both said in unison. I bit my lip and felt the tips of my wings droop a little. Okay, that was unintentional. They both let out a light gasp.

"They won't come off," I repeated.

"You don't mean to say…" Baljeet trailed off, taking a step back in shock. "Phineas, are you pulling our leg here? We both know you are amazing with special effects."

"It's not a joke," I said, nearly choking on my words. "If it was, I'd be laughing with everyone else in that coliseum.."

"Here," Isabella said softly, offering me her hand. I took it and we stood up together. Swallowing hard, I tried to ignore the new sensation of having extra appendages. "If it's not a joke, then what is it?"

"I…" I started. I could feel my face flushing red. "L-like I told you…earlier…it's puberty…"

"Phineas, be serious," Isabella frowned.

"I _am _being serious! It's…it's my real dad," I insisted. They both were taken aback by the mention of my biological father. "My dad was…he was…a…a fae…"

"A what…?" she blinked.

"Isabella, fae is the non-gender term for…fairy," Baljeet explained for me. He looked up at me and tried not to make a strange face. "In other words…Phineas is…"

"Half-fairy," I whispered, loud enough for them to hear it. They both bit their lips and stared at me with blank expressions on their faces. I looked up at Isabella and tried to search for some kind of reaction from her. Neither moved or said anything for the longest time. Finally, it was Isabella who made the first move.

She walked forward and stopped a few inches away from me. Her hand went up slowly and was moving in the direction of my right wing. I tensed a little, my wings straightening up a little. My eyes darted from her hand to my wing, wondering what I would feel. She anxiously flitted her eyes back and forth between my face to the wing. It was obvious she didn't want any harsh reactions. I swallowed, but let her follow through with what she wanted to do. Her index finger and her thumb grasped my wing ever so slightly. Instantly, I felt the nerves in its membrane scream in protest. Now I knew how dragonflies felt when they were snatched by the wings. It hurt.

"Ow," I said, pursing my lips together. Alarmed, she pulled her hand away quickly and grabbed at her wrist.

"S-sorry," she stammered.

"It's okay," I told her, biting my lip.

"They're just so…astounding," she said softly. Isabella continued to look at my wings with a certain awe that made me almost feel good about having them. I laughed nervously and scratched the back of my head.

"R-really?" I stuttered. "What, um, exactly do they…do they look like?"

"You haven't seen them until now?" she blinked.

"Well, erm, no," I said, feeling the embarrassment in my cheeks again. "I mean, they just grew in, what, ten minutes ago?"

"Oh," she remarked, raising her eyebrows a little, obviously feeling bad for asking the question. "Well, they're much like…like a dragonfly's wings. Transparent. The veins are a dark green. There's like, two larger ones up top, and two smaller ones just below them, kind of like Tinker Bell's, from _Peter Pan_, but less feminine, I would say."

"Well, that's a relief," I chuckled, still feeling quite discomfited. The awkward state got even more awkward when my mom's car pulled up down the street and was parked sloppily on the side of the road. Noticing that she had obviously been called after the fiasco, I swallowed hard and felt my wings drop behind me. Okay, so obviously they respond well to emotions. Isabella noticed the terrified look on my face and reached over for my hand. Grasping it in her fingers tightly, she gave me a weak smile. "I hope I'm not in trouble."

"Maybe not," Isabella shrugged. Mom leapt out of the car and ran over to us in a hurry. By the time she'd gotten over here, though, she was well out of breath. That still didn't stop her from getting her message out.

"Phineas…are you…are you okay, sweetie?" she gasped, bending down on one knee and grabbing me by the shoulders. So, she hadn't noticed the wings or she was too concerned to comment on them. "Vivian said that something must have startled you and you just ran out screaming."

"Mom, I'm…I'm fine, now," I told her. She gave me a concerned look. I nodded to Baljeet and Isabella. "They helped me feel better."

"I think he makes a most handsome fairy," Isabella giggled, batting her eyes a little. I was so delighted by the compliment, I forgot that I hated being called a fairy.

"What?" Mom blinked. I shrugged a little, and my wings perked back up. She gasped and stepped back away from me. Is that going to be _everyone's_ reaction to this? "Phineas!"

"Yes, Mom?" I asked.

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry, did that happen in public?!" she exclaimed. She pulled me in for a large hug accidentally grabbing one of my wings as she did so.

"Mom…Mom, ow…that…that kinda hurts…you've got…Mom, you've got my wing…" I stammered. She let go quickly and made one of those confused faces when you don't know how to respond to what the other person said.

"Sorry," she said apologetically. She grabbed my hand. "Let's get you home, then."

* * *

**Is that just plain weird, or does anyone agree with Isabella?**


	5. Zauberin Vila Flynn

**"Faerie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary, and dungeons for the overbold." -J.R.R. Tolkien. -AJ **

* * *

The ride back home started out silent. I couldn't tell if Mom was angry, scared, confused, proud, or completely embarrassed. She let me ride in the front seat, though, so I figured she couldn't be _that_ upset. It was either that or she didn't think my wings would fare well in the back seat. To be quite frank, it was weird trying to sit against the chair's back and not hurt myself. I kept fidgeting to try and keep myself comfortable.

"Phineas, will you sit still?" Mom finally sighed.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "It's just hard to get used to having appendages where your shoulder blades are."

"Of course," Mom nodded, still focusing on the road and not on me.

"Mom, tell me about my dad," I said nonchalantly. The statement nearly caused her to wreck the car. She got control of herself and smiled at me a little, in the way she did when she didn't want to tell us something. "Mom, please?"

"Alright, alright," she said, swallowing a little. "Well, I suppose the first thing you should know is that his name was Haldjas Keiju Flynn. He came from a Germanic clan of fae known as the Tündér."

"Cool," I said, hoping that would keep her going.

"You look a lot like he did, only you got my red hair," Mom laughed nostalgically. "His hair was closer to Candace's. In fact, it would hard-pressed to prove that Haldjas wasn't your father, you're so much like him. Adventurous. Kind. Creative."

"Really?" I smiled, enjoying this moment; the one moment I had been waiting for ever since I'd learned that Lawrence wasn't my real dad.

"Yes," Mom nodded. I could see a tear forming at the corner of her right eye. "There wasn't a human or fae alive that was like Haldjas. You know, when he first told me he was a fae, I didn't know what to think. There we were, with one small child and another on the way, and he was just telling me that he had wings and could use magic that I could never comprehend.

"Of course, I didn't believe him at first, but who would? It wasn't until he showed me his wings that I believed. He'd used some complex spell to hide them. Haldjas told me that he'd been ashamed to show me who he really was. I told him that I loved him; not what he was, but who he was."

"If you loved him so much, why isn't he still here?" I frowned. She sighed and her shoulders drooped.

"Phineas, your father died," she said quietly. "It was sudden, and no one could figure out the cause. His brother, your uncle, Zauberin Vila Flynn, told me to never tell you children until it came time for you to grow wings. It's better that Candace didn't believe, as she gossips about anything and everything, but now that she knows…well…"

"Why can't people know?" I asked her, considering all of the people that had seen my wings in the dance hall.

"It's not that they _can't_ know," Mom said hurriedly, "Phineas, in fact, numerous fae have picked certain humans and dubbed themselves 'fairy godparents.' It's just that we wanted to refrain from the embarrassment of being a half-fae."

"Oh," I said quietly, hanging my head. Mom pulled the car into our driveway and unbuckled her seatbelt. I undid mine as well and opened the door up. She watched me as I slid out of the car and shut the door, and then she followed suit. We walked up to the door and just as Mom went to place the key in the lock, a voice from behind us startled the both of us.

"Well, well, well. Thought I'd never see this."

We turned around to see a man about the height of Lawrence floating, no, hovering a few inches from the ground. It was then that I realized he was a fae; a full-blooded fae. His hair was strawberry blond, his skin was about the color of mine, and his eyes were an astonishing sky blue. The clothes he was wearing looked much like a normal person's clothes; jeans, a green t-shirt, and red and white sneakers. Mom rolled her eyes.

"Zauberin, I should have known you'd show up," she sighed.

"Look, I know you don't exactly, hmm, what's the word- _approve_ of me," he grinned, "but I'm certain the kid would feel much more comfortable attending school if he had a relative he could go to right up in Skyen, eh?"

"Hmm, the one fae in all of Felhõ that he's related to, and he's a complete scoundrel," Mom laughed. "Would you like to come in?"

"Don't mind if I do," he chuckled. "Haven't seen my niece and nephew in the longest time!"

He dropped to his feet and walked inside as I held the door out for Mom. Rolling my eyes, I waited for her to walk through as well, and then I followed them, making sure to close the door and lock it behind myself. We went into the living room, where Candace, Ferb, and Lawrence were playing an intense game of Skiddley Whiffers. I smiled as I watched Candace actually enjoying herself for once. It was a rare thing to see her so happy. She moved her sneaker to the last spot and vigorously rang the bell.

"Victory bell! Victory bell!" she exclaimed, jumping up and dancing. "Whoo! Who is the queen? That's right, Candace Gertrude Flynn is the queen of Skiddley Whiffers!"

"Nice job, Candace, another win!" I said, startling everyone in the room. She fell back onto her backside and let her mouth hang open.

"Ph-Phineas…you…you…" she stammered.

Ferb walked over and put a hand over her mouth. I laughed and walked in next to her. She gave me a weird look and tried to pry Ferb's hand off of her mouth. He was stubborn, though, and refused to move his hand, lest she insult me.

"Relax, Ferb, she has a right to celebrate," I smiled. "After all, she won, right? Well, sorry about the freak call from Isabella's mom, everyone. I actually had a great time! We danced, she won a cool award, Baljeet and Buford showed up, it was cool."

"Danced? You were at a dance?!" Uncle Zauberin shouted. All of our eyes turned to stare at him. He started to dance to a tune that must have been in his head. "I love dancing! Dancing is the greatest pastime EVER!"

"So, if you and Candace hadn't guess yet, Phineas, your uncle is a big teenager," Mom told us, giving him a weird look. "Your father and I never could figure it out."

"Aw, Linda, don't be like that!" he smiled. "We both know I'm only nineteen!"

"You can't possibly be nineteen!" Mom insisted. "That would leave a…a twenty-three year gap between when you were each born!"

"Hey, that's how we roll, eh?" he chuckled. He's a fun guy, what's not to like? "Well, I've come to make you guys an offer, and I know it might seem a little crazy, but I'm hoping as my extended family you'll take me up on it."

"Zauberin, this had better be worth it," Mom said pointedly.

"Of course it is!" he said, waving a hand at her dismissively. "It's totally legit."

"Did he just say 'legit,' Lawrence?" Mom asked, astounded.

"Linda, re-_lax_!" he told her. "Okay, so I was given this free scholarship to the Skyen Academy for a descendant of the Flynn bloodline. Can I give it to Phineas?"

* * *

**Zauberin...he's weird right?**


	6. The Last Day of Summer

**Update time! I'm liking writing this story. It's quite fun! -AJ **

* * *

That night, I went to bed full of questions and anxiety. I found it a tad difficult to get comfortable. Once I'd finally buried my face in the pillow and gotten somewhat in a desirable position, I felt something poke my side. Sitting up quickly, I turned to see what it was. Perry was standing up again, but this time he was sporting a fedora and holding his front paws over his mouth.

"If you laugh…" I said quietly. He put his paws up and kept smiling. "Seriously now, what if _you_ grew wings?"

"Then I wouldn't have need of a jetpack," he laughed, but it was an honest laugh.

"So you were going to make fun of me for it?" I blinked.

"No, I was just shocked I'd woken you up," he admitted. "I've been slipping in and out of your room at night for around five years now. Never once has either of you woken up. Were you sleeping okay?"

"Not really," I sighed. "I'm nervous. Mom's sending us away with my strange Uncle Zauberin. We have to attend some 'Skyen Academy' up in the fae world- wherever that might be, ya know?"

"We? We who?" Perry sat back a little.

"We as in, 'you and I,' Perry," I frowned. "She told me I _have_ to take you."

"What?!" Perry gasped. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I love you as my human, but I have a job and four other humans to mind!"

"Protective, much?" I smiled, reaching over and scratching his stomach with one finger. A dazed look came over his face and I could see one of his hind legs twitching, much like what happens when you find a nice spot to scratch on a dog. "Feel good, buddy?"

"Oh, you have no IDEA!" he said. I picked him up and held him in my lap, still petting him. He let out a chatter in content. Laughing, I realized that his aggravated purr didn't really have to mean anything. When we'd tried translating it this summer, it had stayed the same- exactly how he'd intended it to come off as. It was just content.

"Will you be okay, accompanying me?" I asked him, stroking his back gently. He let out a sigh and rolled over on his back.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," he nodded. He placed one paw against my stomach. "Gotta look out for Phinny, too, eh?"

"Something in your voice tells me you're torn," I laughed a little.

"A little," he nodded.

"Hey, who knows- some fae kid might have a lovely pet platypus that's a _female_," I joked. His tail perked up a little. "Oh? Someone's hit puberty."

"That is not true, I'm just a mating-age platypus who felt like pretending I was excited about that statement," Perry said, crossing his arms. "It's not like I constantly think about it, ya know."

"Whatever," I chuckled. I laid back down on my back and stared up at the ceiling. Perry pulled off his fedora and curled up under my arm. Smiling, I continued to pet him until I'd fallen asleep.

The next morning, I woke up to find that he was draped across my stomach, snoring like an angry bear. (Seriously, I'd never noticed how badly he snores). I sat up quickly, knocking him off by accident, and hurriedly changed into my clothes. Of course, I had to make slits in the back of my shirt so that my wings would fit through it, but other than that it was a quick process. Perry groggily sat up from where he'd landed and rubbed his eyes with his tiny fists.

"Morning, sleepyhead," I smiled. He rolled his eyes and assumed his typical pet mode. Ferb woke up just about the time he'd moved. Something told me he was used to changing personas as quickly as one blinked. "Morning, Ferb."

"Good morning," he said, blinking a little. I pulled out my suit case and began to throw as much of my clothing in it as possible. Certain all of them was plenty, I ran out to the bathroom and began gathering toiletries I'd need for the trip. Running back in the room, I found Perry laying in the middle of my suitcase.

"Silly boy, I'm not _packing_ you up," I chuckled. "It's more like a ride."

Perry hopped out of the basket and excitedly scampered around in circles. Okay, so he was pretending to be a dog, apparently. Albeit, I will admit he was pretty darn good at playing 'stupid pet.' Ferb laughed at him a little.

"Where does he think he's going?" Ferb raised an eyebrow.

"Mom's making me take him with me up to Felhõ," I sighed. Ferb looked down, realizing that meant he wouldn't be seeing either of us until December. "Sorry…"

"No, it's fine," Ferb said quickly. "Mom did say you can talk to him. Is that true, by the way?"

"Yeah, totally!" I smiled. I sat down on my bed and continued to watch Perry scamper about the room in an obvious frenzy. He chattered happily and curled up next to Ferb. "He says some pretty interesting things, too."

"So, our translator…?" Ferb blinked.

"It wasn't broken," I reassured him. "Perry sometimes just chatters to chatter."

"Interesting," Ferb hummed. He petted Perry on the head and smiled. I could sense Perry smiling on the inside. That must have been part of my powers, too. Smiling, I gave him a quick wink to let him know that his secret agent persona was safe with me. The corner of his bill turned up as he gave me a nonverbal thanks.

"So, last day of summer, bro, do you know what we're gonna do today?" I grinned.

"Of course I do," he nodded. We jumped up together and cheered, "Croquet Y-8!"

We ran downstairs and ate a hurried breakfast. Uncle Zauberin, who was still there, accompanied us out back because he was interested in what humans do for sports. Ferb set up the pickets while I showed him how to hit the ball. He got the hang of it…sorta. The gang showed up around ten.

"Phineas, I know you enjoy being the center of attention, but did you have to wear the wings a second time _and_ got a random adult to do it, too?" Buford asked.

"I am not random!" Uncle Zauberin countered. I just laughed.

"C'mon Buford, don't say you're embarrassed that you hang out with a fairy," Isabella said dreamily, waltzing in behind him. Buford's eyes welled up with tears as he tried to hold in a laugh. "Your wings look very handsome in the sunlight, by the way."

"Thanks, Izzy," I smiled. Uncle Zauberin elbowed me and winked. "I'd like you guys to meet my Uncle Zauberin. He's from the fae world. And he's gonna play Croquet Y-8 with us. Cool, right?"

"Croquet!" Baljeet exclaimed. "This sounds so exciting! How does it work?"

"Well, let me tell you," I said, raising my eyebrows. Ferb pulled out an electric guitar and started playing it. "We've got a song! _On an electric field, you had better be steeled, 'cause we're gonna get crazy today! We've got time warp zones, and a handful of scones, in a new version of croquet!_

"_Watch out for pitfalls and vanishing balls; in one place you don't wanna stay- because it's unpredictable which way you'll go, put on your thinking caps it's time to play!_"

"_Croquet Y-8!_" Ferb and I sang together. "_Croquet Y-8! It's the game you'll love, the refereeing you'll hate; put it all together and it's Croquet Y-8!_

"_Better watch your feet, they might miss the street; we're playing on an air hockey table. Gotta keep your balance and your ready stance; yes you'll be a little bit unstable! The field'll tilt back and forth, like a rickety porch, our definition of a real turntable! Don't worry if you fall, we won't ever have to stall, we ain't the rabbit in Aesop's fable!_"

"_Croquet Y-8! Croquet Y-8! It's the game you'll love, the refereeing you'll hate; put it all together and it's Croquet Y-8! Yeah, Croquet Y-8! Croquet Y-8! It's good to be on time, don't show up late; that's how we roll and play Croquet Y-8! Yeah!_"

"So, who wants to play?" I asked. Everyone raised their hands. Leave it to Ferb and I to make croquet suddenly cool. Ferb passed out the croquet mallets and Uncle Zauberin (who had picked them all up when I wasn't looking) dropped all of the balls onto the ground. I pressed a button that transformed the backyard into a virtual air hockey board with wickets all along it.

"Whoa," Buford and Baljeet sighed together. Buford picked Baljeet up. "Nerd and Ferb are on my team!"

"Alright, then that means Izzy and Uncle Z are on my team!" I grinned. "Let's suit up, people!"

Ferb passed out a bunch of spandex suits for us to put on. We all gave him a look. He blinked. Okay, I guess we were playing in spandex. After we'd all changed into the spandex suits, he gave the guys some shorts. Isabella laughed and said she really didn't care if I wore the shorts or not, I looked good regardless. Apparently she does not understand what spandex does to a guy down there…why Ferb?!

"All, right, let's go!" I shouted. We then jumped into the most insane game of croquet this world has ever known. Unlike traditional croquet, we were playing on teams, so whenever our team members scored a point, it would be marked up on the giant scoreboard. When the game had ended, our team had won by nine points, so we packed up the field and got back into our normal clothing.

"Thanks for the greatest last day of summer ever," Isabella smiled at me as we were telling everyone goodbye. "It was a lot of fun."

"Yeah, I'm glad I got to see you," I sighed.

"You'll see me in school Monday," she laughed, but stopped short when she saw the look on my face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not going to school there anymore," I frowned.

"Y-you're not?" she stammered. I shook my head and grabbed her into a tight hug. "Oh, Phineas!"

"I'm going to miss you a lot, Isabella," I said sadly, holding her close for as long as I could. "I promise that I'll write. As often as I can. And I'll visit as often as I can, too. Just remember that I love you."

"It just won't be the same here without you," she sniffled. "School won't, home won't; life won't."

"I know, but you can't not go on with life just because I'm not going to be here," I said. "Just remember to carpe diem. Alright?"

"I'll remember all right," she said. She pulled me by the shirt and gave me a huge kiss. She left me standing there in complete awe. Yeah, I was definitely in love with her.

* * *

**Phinabella! **


	7. Skyen

**I really enjoy writing this one, ya'll. No lies xD -AJ **

* * *

My mom scooped me up into a large hug and repeatedly kissed me on the forehead. I wanted to struggle out of her grasp, but I didn't want to be rude at the same time. She held me there for the longest time, just hugging and kissing me as much as she possibly could. Uncle Z had to intervene.

"Gosh, Linda, put the kid down!" he said, sounding a little stressed. "I know we're not on a time schedule, but I'd like to get him up to Felhõ before the sun goes down."

"I'm sorry," she said meekly, putting me down and giving me one last hug. This time, I returned her embrace. "I'm just going to miss my little boy."

"Mom, am I _really_ that little?" I frowned.

"Yes, yes you are," Candace nodded. She had a half-smirk on her face. "I'm just relieved that the instigator won't be here all school year to embarrass me by making some monster baking soda volcano for science class, or build an actual roller coaster, or-"

"Candace, sweetie, isn't Phineas a little young to be a roller coaster engineer?" Mom asked her. Candace growled a little.

"Well, actually," I started, putting up a finger to interject, but Candace plowed right over it.

"You never believe me!" she exclaimed. "For crying out loud, he built a roller coaster through downtown and somehow you just didn't see it! Every single thing he builds, you never see it and you never believe me!"

"The Croquet Y-8 game is pretty cool," Uncle Z threw out.

"Is that still there?!" Candace shrieked.

"No, something caused it to roll away," I sighed. "And it wasn't even circular like the maze, or the biosphere, or the bowling ball the size of a Goozim, or the Football X-7 stadium-"

"Phineas, for goodness' sake, not you, too," Mom groaned.

"See! See!" Candace said excitedly. "He's _admitting_ that he built all of this stuff in our backyard. Sometimes Dad sees it! Or Grandpa! Or Grandma! Or Ferb's grandparents! Or truckers!"

"Listen, I'm not going to believe that they built these things, and it was rude of you to get him to say that for you," Mom said suddenly.

"She never told me what to say," I huffed a little. "I was just trying to prove that the croquet field wasn't technically supposed to roll. Many of our other inventions could have, but that one, certainly not."

"Phineas, I honestly doubt you've built a roller coaster," Mom blinked.

"We should have taken pictures before we got everyone to sign the waivers, Ferb," I sighed. "Unless we still have some of the rivets somewhere…"

Ferb pulled some out of his pocket and brandished them for the world to see.

"Not those rivets, those went to the rocket to the moon," I shook my head. "Although those are pretty nice, I'm glad you kept them. Maybe we can build a fourth rocket. To Jupiter? Uranus? Neptune?"

"Pluto," Ferb winked. I laughed and gave him a quick hug.

"I sure am going to miss you, bro," I smiled. He nodded to tell me the same thing, and then he stooped down to give Perry a good-bye pet. Perry chattered, pretending he wasn't so sure of what was going on. Mom gave Uncle Z a quick hug.

"You had better take care of him, Zauberin, or so help me you'll be wishing you did," she warned him. He laughed a little and picked up all of my bags.

"Relax, Linda!" he smiled. "I'm more responsible than I was ten years ago when I found out I was going to have a nephew."

"For your sake, you'd better be," she said firmly. I got a last minute hug from Dad and Candace, and then I picked up Perry and followed Uncle Z out of the door. He took me a little ways down the sidewalk.

"So, you nervous?" he asked me.

"A little," I nodded. He cocked his head a little. "Shouldn't you be walking since we're out in public?"

"Oh, right!" he said, quickly planting his feet on the concrete. He seemed a little awkward on his feet. "Thanks, buddy. That was a close one!"

"Yeah," I laughed. He steered me into a vacant lot and reached down into his pocket. "So, where exactly _is_ Felhõ?"

"Well, some describe it as a city in the clouds," Uncle Z said slowly. "Others have said that we shrink ourselves down so much that it appears like we're in another world. But, the truth of the matter is, is that Felhõ is a rather large archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Humans can't find it because it's protected by magic."

"I thought you said there were billions of fae?" I blinked, not able to see how a group of islands could hold that many of anything.

"There are," he laughed. "It's bigger than it sounds. Like, think the geographical size of Russia."

"Whoa, that's a lot of islands!" I breathed. He nodded as he pulled some dust out of his pocket. It was shimmery golden dust. "Is that…pixie dust?"

"You're funny," Uncle Z chuckled, sticking his tongue out a little. "Humans are just told that so they'll stop being curious about fae. No, this is transportation dust. We don't use it to _fly_, we use it to _teleport_. Fae are way less feminine than humans would have you believe."

"I never said pixie dust was feminine," I pointed out. "I never even said _anything_ was feminine, Uncle Z."

"Well, then," he said in a fake tone of hurt. I laughed and watched as he threw the dust down at the concrete. "Take us to Skyen, Felhõ!"

The dust swirled in a vortex-like fashion, spinning and spinning wildly. Much like a pinwheel, a tropical setting began to wipe onto the face of the vortex. Uncle Z grasped my hand and checked to make sure he had all my luggage.

"Hold on to your platypus' tail!" he exclaimed. Before I had a chance to ask what in the world he meant by that, he dove into the vortex, pulling myself and Perry with him. I couldn't resist the urge to scream a little. Perry…he liked it, I think. It felt a lot like being pulled through a vacuum cleaner, I guess. The vortex dropped us into a pile of sand. Uncle Z was able to right himself, but Perry and myself ended up with mouthfuls of sand, seaweed, and shells.

"Nasty!" Perry exclaimed, spitting as much as he could out of his mouth. "It sticks to your tongue! Mleeeeeh!"

"Oops," Uncle Z chuckled. "I forgot you've never learned how to fly. I should have used a wall instead of the ground."

"Ya think?" Perry said, spitting even more sand out of his mouth. I opened my mouth a little more and let the sand mixture fall out of it. Suddenly, I wished I had brought along a bottle of water to rinse my mouth out with, because spit definitely wasn't clearing the sand and shells out.

"I need some mouthwash or something," I mumbled.

"What for?" Uncle Z cocked his head. "You already brushed your teeth, Phin, no need to overdo it."

"Now we know who the dim one of this part is…" Perry snorted. He stood up and pulled out his fedora. Turning it right-side up, he started to hit it to knock the sand out of it. "Stupid, stupid sand. All stuck in my hat like this…"

"Since when did the platypus have anthropomorphic qualities?" Uncle Z smiled. He floated over to Perry and poked him in the side. Perry furrowed his brow and went to slap his hand away, only to find that he'd flown over to the other side and proceeded to poke him again.

"Stop-touching-me!" Perry growled.

"Fine, fine," Uncle Z chuckled. He picked me up and set me on my feet. "Now, let's get you two to my house! We'll have you settle in in no time, then we'll get your school supplies, and then it's smooth sailing until Monday!"

"Okay, then," I said, dusting myself off. He flew off in the direction of his home. Shrugging at Perry, I started walking after him. Not particularly thrilled, but unwilling to be left alone, Perry did the same. Uncle Z slowed down a little so that we could keep up with his pace.

It wasn't too long before we ran into other fae. They were much different than I'd ever imagined fairies to be, quite frankly. Fae weren't all feminine. They didn't wear poufy clothing or all pastels. Most actually wore the same kinds of clothes as humans did. Wings were a variety altogether. Some had butterfly or dragonfly wings, whereas others had bats', birds', or even angels' wings. I daresay some were even reptilian. Small children, I noticed, didn't have wings, and those who were roughly my age in appearance to those who were much, much older did. There were a select few that didn't have wings regardless of age, but I didn't want to assume they weren't tucked away in their shirt for lack of excuse to be using them.

Not long after we'd entered the fae town, which Uncle Z told us was, in fact, the capital city of Skyen, we ran into a young couple that immediately zipped over to us and excitedly greeted Uncle Z. They appeared to be about his age and were both thin like he was. The lady had flowing dark brown hair and a tan skin color, whereas the man had blond hair and skin paler than mine. They shared the same teal eye color.

"Z-man!" the guy said. "Where'd you run off to for a few days? We missed you at Saturday's party!"

"Ah, I was picking up my nephew," he smiled and ruffled my hair a little. Perry started staring daggers at him, most likely willing him not to do the same to his own head. "Blake, this is Phineas, my brother's son. And his little platypus sidekick."

"I am _not_ anyone's sidekick," Perry muttered.

"Coolness," Blake grinned. He held a hand out to me and I reached up to shake it. Smiling, he vigorously shook it and gave Uncle Z an approving nod. "Well, Phineas- do you mind if I call you Phin?"

"Not at all," I chuckled. "My stepdad calls me that all the time."

"Okay, then, Phin," he said good naturedly. "Welcome to Skyen! How long will you be staying with us cool city fae? A week? Two? Just in for today?"

"Actually, sir, I'm here for the school year," I said. He waved his hand.

"Epic!" he exclaimed. "And please- just call me Blake like your uncle does. And you can call my wife Lizzy."

"Aw, Blake, respect his mannerism," she giggled. "Such wonderful respect for a young fae; it's awfully rare, nowadays. Haldjas and your mother must have raised you well."

"I-I don't really remember my dad, I'm only ten," I said meekly, turning a little pink in the cheeks.

"That's odd," she remarked. "A fae's memory usually extends back to when they were three."

"Must be my human genes…" I laughed nervously.

"Human?" Blake and Lizzy said together. They gave each other a quick look, and then focused their attentions back on me. Blake was the one who spoke. "So, what you mean to say is that you're only _half_-fae?"

"Yes, yes I am," I nodded. Uncle Z grabbed me by the shoulder and raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"Don't be so loud about that!" he told me in a hushed voice. He looked back up to his friends and bit his lip a little. "I'm sorry, he doesn't know about the, erm, conflict, and such. My apologies. And, yes, Hal married a human. His two kids are, yeah, you know."

"This puts an entirely different spin on why Haldjas might have died," Lizzy pointed out to him. I stood there, trying to make sense of it all.

"Lizzy…" Uncle Z said quietly. His face darkened and for that moment I truly believe he was dead serious. "I know exactly how he died. I was there. I tried to stop it. And I don't think it wise that we discuss this in front of Phineas."

"You don't give Phineas enough credit," Perry said, with an air of challenge in his voice. Uncle Z lowered himself to Perry's level and gave him a stern look. "We will discuss this at my house, _Perry_. I don't care how tough you think you are, it wouldn't be your brightest idea to start a fight with a fae."

"Z-man, leave the little beaver alone," Blake said jokingly. He grabbed Uncle Z by the arm and pulled him away from Perry slowly. I pulled Perry back and let out a sigh of relief. "I mean, it's not like he can do you any real harm."

"Crap…" I said under my breath. Perry broke out of my grip and charged for the unprepared Blake. He leapt up and with one foot, he hit Blake square in the chest and knocked him over onto the ground.

"You wanna dance, skinny boy?" Perry growled. I rolled my eyes. Great, now I know _his_ true colors.

"What the hey is wrong with the beaver?!" Blake exclaimed. Perry went to punch him, but I scooped him up in my arms and pulled him off of the man. He kicked around a little, but eventually gave up, as he knew breaking out of my arms might just hurt my feelings. "Control your beaver, bro!"

"Sorry, he's apparently easily provoked," I said. Perry snorted in response.

"I'm a _platypus_," he snarled. "Get it right, Air-Tran, a _platypus_. Not a beaver, not a duck, not a muskrat, not a Dachshund-"

"Who mistook you for a Dachshund?" I interjected.

"His name was Paul," Perry said flatly. "And he was a delivery guy."

"An-y-ways," Uncle Z rolled his eyes. "We have to get to my house and get Phineas situated, so, it was nice to see you guys, and I hope to see you again real soon, okay?"

"Nice to see you, too, Z-man!" Blake grinned. They shared a small half-hug and hand grasp, and then Uncle Z shook Lizzy's hand. "And you better keep him safe. I know Skyen Academy's anti-Purum, but out here in public you might wanna keep tabs on who you tell. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Uncle Z nodded. He turned myself and Perry around and gently pushed us along. "Later, Blake."

For a good long while, we said nothing. Uncle Z just pushed us on in utter silence. Perry and I shared a few looks, but had nothing to say. We were both too confused to know anything and too dumbfounded to ask anything. After we'd left the larger part of the city and were headed down a small road out to the suburban and rural parts of Skyen, I finally gathered up the courage to ask a burning question.

"Uncle Z, who are the Purum?" I said, looking up at him. He froze in his tracks for a moment before he kept flying.

"Phineas, there are two types of fae," he replied slowly. "There are the fae who embrace the human world and don't mind that there are half-fae; we call them the Amicis. Then there are those who abhor humans and half-fae, and we call them the Inimicis. Now, there are extremist groups for both sides; the Amicis have the Morus, and the Inimicis have the Purum."

"So…" I frowned. "Extremist…how extreme is extreme?"

"Hold that thought," Uncle Z told me. He flew up to a mansion to our right and unlocked the front door. Looking around, he waved us both inside. We hurriedly followed him into the large house.

"_This_ is your home?!" Perry gasped.

"Yep, sure is," Uncle Z nodded. I looked around in utter awe. The floors, walls, and the ceilings were all made of pure marble. Large, red draperies fell down the sides of windows that would have made my home in Danville seem like a Hooverville shanty. Elegant chandeliers with crystals or diamonds (I couldn't tell the difference, really) hanging down from their long, golden arms were suspended from long golden chains from the ceiling of every room we passed. Every piece of furniture appeared to be a velvety texture, and all of the cushions, upholstery, and bedclothes were a deep red to match the draperies. Anything made out of wood was a cherry wood color, and faucets and such appeared to be fashioned from ivory. The knobs on handles were crystals to match the chandeliers, and the shower curtains were actually sheets of pearls. It felt like just touching foot inside of this opulence was illegal.

What caught my attention most, though, was the room that we were headed to. It was a library, of sorts, and I say that for good reason: every single wall of this room was a bookshelf, and on each bookshelf row alone there must have been close to a thousand books. In one corner, there was a small desk. This desk was covered with parchment, fountain pens, paper clips, sewing materials, and steel stamps. The opposing corner, just diagonal from it, had four small chairs all positioned at the vertices of a small table. On this table, however, there was a chess board with its pieces set up, ready for someone to engage in the mental battle that it boasted. Uncle Z had us sit in three of these chairs. Perry sat back in the chair next to mine, and Uncle Z sat across from me.

"Now, Phineas, you wanted to know about the extremists, right?" he questioned, seeming unsure if he wanted to explain or not.

"Yes, actually, I do," I said, leaning forward a little. "But, quick question- this is _really_ your house, right?"

"Of course it is," he laughed. "The Flynn's are a very renowned, old family of fae. All of us up here live in mansions. Anyways, what is it about them you want to know?"

"How extreme is extreme?" I repeated. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat a little.

"Well, in order to tell you that, I'm going to use a small, real-life example," he said slowly. "One I saw with my own eyes- your father's death."

* * *

**O-O What about them chandeliers, ya'll?**


	8. Haldjas Flynn's Death

**Sad chappie. -AJ **

* * *

"So, it happened about eight years ago," Uncle Z said. He took a deep breath and continued. "Your father had left your house that night to join me for a Morus meeting. He wanted me to join the extremists, you see, for he was an extremist himself. However, our parents weren't all for this, so in order to tell you about his death, I have to tell you our life story.

"The Flynn's have been a well-renowned, very rich fae family for hundreds of thousands of years. This house has been passed down from about 1014, anno domini. Our parents received it when they were wed; it was a wedding gift from my father's parents. They were well-respected people, but, alas, they are Purum fae.

"Your father was born twenty-three years before I was, and they raised him just like any Purum would- to hate the humans and to hate half-fae just as much. However, Haldjas had a strange knack for asking questions he shouldn't have asked. One day, he asked one of the oldest professors at Skyen Academy how to get to the human world. He was told that the transportation dust would do the job, unless he wanted to fly off to some human continent.

"Thus, the obsession with humans came over him. Haldjas spent hours upon hours of free time researching the human world. He wanted to know where he should go, what he should see, and whom he should try and meet. He wanted to know how to confront a human as a fae, and that got him deeply involved with Amici friends. Unfortunately, in order to know everything there is to know about humans, Haldjas had to prove he wasn't like our parents and join the Morus. So he did just that.

"Outraged, my father told him he wasn't allowed his inheritance. Just to spite him, they had another son, myself, and promised everything to their second-born; an un-orthodox thing for even humans. Haldjas didn't care, though, and once I was old enough, he began to give me the same love for humans and half-fae. I, of course, wasn't as daring as he was, and stuck to my limits.

"One day, he pulled me over to the side and said to me, 'Zibby,' that's what he called me, and he said, 'Zibby, I've met someone really, truly special. I know she's the one for me.' I congratulated him and asked to meet this wonderful girl he deemed lucky enough to marry him. He actually took me down from Felhõ and brought me to your mother to meet her. I was four at the time, so you can imagine the culture shock.

"I was sworn to secrecy, and he had me even attend his wedding as what you humans call the 'ring-bearer.' It was a lovely event. Morus were there, humans were there- it was the perfect place to have a desegregated wedding, too. Everything was fine. Well, until Haldjas found out your mom was pregnant.

"You see, it would have been easier for Haldjas to hide his marriage to your mother if he didn't have to be watching after her twenty-four seven. She knew about this, of course, and told him not to worry about it. Your sister was born, and everything was going somewhat smoothly for them. Five years later, though, when your mother was pregnant with you, our parents found out that Haldjas had married behind his back when they went to meet him at his office for lunch one day.

"He didn't know they were there, of course. He was just talking to one of his good friends and expressing his excitement about you. Mom and Dad walked in then, and he was scared for your lives. They asked him about this wife they'd never heard of and this son that was on the way. He was terrified at what they'd do. But, they didn't seem too angry. They thought she was a fae as well. So, they did what any parent would in that instance. They asked to meet her.

"Now, Haldjas knew well and good that he couldn't get her into Felhõ. Humans can't pass the magical barrier placed around the island. So, he fabricated the story that the pregnancy was taxing her body and he needed to take her to a mainland place to keep her healthy. It was a far-fetched story, but not totally unbelievable. Many fae did that. This meant he could try and play it off that they were both fae, if he was careful.

"He had a lucky break, because that day that our parents demanded they meet your mom, Candace had gone to visit your grandparents. He brought them, and myself, who was nine at the time, over to his house and had a small explanation for your mom. She, of course, didn't argue, even if she was eight months pregnant at the time. We all met in the living area.

"I remember it like it was yesterday. Mostly because of the yelling. They caught on pretty quick that your mom wasn't a fae. Of course, they stormed out of the house, screaming that they were cutting Haldjas off from the family and they were disowning him as their son. They left me there, in the process, and I stayed with your parents up until a few weeks after you were born. I didn't argue that, of course, because I got to see my nephew for the first time before I'd end up not seeing him for ten years.

"That then leads up to that one night, eight years ago. I was eleven year of age, and Haldjas had asked me to meet with him. We were on our way to a secret Morus meeting. He wanted to have me inducted as a member; in his support, you know. We walked through the streets of Skyen, and I suppose someone had tipped off the Purum that there was going to be Morus members out at night.

"As we walked, we were ambushed, out of nowhere. Five fae in black and red robes grabbed for us. One held me back, and the other one held Haldjas on his knees. They asked us what we were doing out so late at night, and Haldjas said that we were going for a quick stroll in the warm, summer air. They didn't believe him. So they started to pull out small pocket knives and cut him with them. They wanted an answer, and they wanted the one they wanted to hear. I couldn't take them beating up my brother, so I broke free from the one's hands and tried to protect him. Sadly, being a young, smaller fae did me no good.

"They pulled me away from him, slammed me on the ground and sliced me across the chest once. After that, they proceeded to beat and cut at Haldjas. Some friends came to help; mine and his alike. If you ever meet Carter and her husband, Jackson, you'll see that both of them lost their ability to fly in that fight. I almost did; there's a faint scar across my left wing where they tried to cut the tip off. Either way, many Morus and Amicis got terrible injuries that night, but none had it worse than Haldjas.

"Once they'd left, I scampered over to Haldjas and leaned over his limp body. His blood was flowing out onto the sidewalk below us, and his breathing was short and heavy. I grabbed up his hand in mine and told him that he'd be fine, he'd live. But, the worst part was that he shook his head and pushed my hand away weakly. He told me, 'Zibby, whatever happens, I want you to remember my family. Don't forget them, please.' Those were his last words.

"I traveled back to your mother that night, tired, hurt, and limping a little as I flew. Telling her was the second-worst thing I've ever had to experience, the first being Haldjas' harsh death. I came back here and I waited for news that Candace had grown wings, but it never happened. So I gave up for a little bit. Until I was tipped off by instincts to go and check on you guys. I got real lucky."

I reflected on the story for a minute. It was hard to take in all at once. I hadn't even noticed Perry crawl up into my lap and wrap his little arms around me. Biting my lip, I wrapped my arms around him, too. I could only hope that Skyen Academy would be a safe haven.

* * *

**Yeah, I know- morbid. **


	9. The Deman Square

**So, I had fun writing this chapter. -AJ **

* * *

I had a hard time sleeping that night, but it wasn't because I'd learned about my father's gruesome death. No, no, I challenge _you_ to try and sleep with a platypus that thinks you're about to die. That darn monotreme wouldn't let go of me at all. He'd wrapped his arms around my torso and pretty much vowed to make sure no one tried to kill me while I was sleeping. That's all fine and dandy, Perry, but I don't want you as a snuggle buddy, I want you to sleep on your side of the bed. What happened to the platypus completely content with sleeping at the end of my bed? I have no clue.

The next morning, I pried him off of me and pulled myself out of bed. I decided to take a morning shower, so I went into the bathroom that was attached to the room Uncle Z was dubbing as mine and locked the door. (If Perry tried to protect me in the shower…let's just say the last thing I want is Perry bursting in on me while I'm stark naked). It was the first time, I'd realized, that I was going to try and bathe myself with these wings. Talk about awkward. I made a mental note to ask Uncle Z to explain fae puberty later…that wouldn't be a fun talk. After showering, I dried off, got dressed in my usual outfit, and took a moment to comb through my hair.

When I walked out of the room, I found Perry snoring in a tight little ball on the bed. I had to admit, it was pretty cute. Maybe I'd make the bed after breakfast. He could sleep through it for all I know. I made my way through the labyrinth of halls to the kitchen, where I found Uncle Z happily flipping pancakes. For a moment, I watched him do it. It was truly a sight to see; he was tossing them everywhere, but he always managed to fly over and catch them in the pan.

"Morning Uncle Z," I said. He froze in midair (save for his beating wings, of course) and caught the last pancake he'd thrown. I laughed.

"Well, morning to you, too, Phin," he smiled. "Where's your little semi-aquatic, egg-laying friend at?"

"Sleeping," I chuckled. "And you do realize Perry's a male, right?"

"Oh?" Uncle Z raised his eyebrows. "Do the females lay the eggs or something?"

"I don't think there's a single species in which the male lays eggs or gives birth, Uncle Z," I told him. "Unless, of course, fae…"

"No, no!" he said hurriedly.

"Yeah, I thought so," I laughed. I walked into the kitchen more and watched him flip the rest of his pancakes while we talked.

"There is, however, a species of dragon in which the male lays the eggs," he told me.

"Wouldn't that just make the male a female?" I blinked.

"Nope, they have the same organs as males," he told me absentmindedly. I thought about that for a second. Ew…just, ew. How does that even work?

"That's not weird at all…" I murmured. Perry walked in behind me and yawned. He tugged on my shirt sleeve. Smiling, I turned to look at him. "Oh, there you are, Perry. Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, yeah," he nodded, yawning again. "What about yourself?"

"It's hard to sleep when a monotreme's half-suffocating you," I remarked. Perry went to reply, but Uncle Z interjected.

"What exactly makes him a 'monotreme,' Phin?" he asked. Perry and I stared at each other and blinked. The platypus shrugged.

"Can we try to avoid more awkward conversations, Uncle Z?" I asked. "I don't think Perry seems to know, and I don't feel right in telling him what it means. Scratch that- I don't feel like explaining that word to _anyone_."

"Then why use the word?" Perry frowned.

"Because, that's what you are," I said, scratching the back of my head. "You're a platypus, a monotreme, an oviparous mammal, a semi-aquatic mammal, and also a venomous mammal- well you were that one, but, ya know…"

"What do you mean by that?" Perry questioned. He cast a curious glance at his back feet. I sighed.

"Mom had your venom removed for our safety," I explained.

"That explains a lot," he nodded. He cracked his knuckles a little. "But…Doof certainly doesn't know that, so I can keep it as a scare tactic."

"Whoa, whoa, Phin, did you just say venomous?!" Uncle Z exclaimed. He flew over and hung upside-down next to Perry. Annoyed, the platypus pushed him away by the nose. "Hey, that wasn't very nice!"

"It wasn't meant to be," Perry huffed. I gave him a pointed look.

"Sorry, Uncle Z, he's just a little…stubborn," I sighed. This time it was Perry giving me the look. "Some platypi don't understand that they have to be nice."

"I'm plenty nice," Perry grumbled. That was all he got out before Uncle Z zipped behind us and pushed us into chairs at the table. Perry's fedora fell over his eyes. He grabbed the edges of it and pulled it back up to where he liked it sitting.

"Okay, so I'm not a perfect cook, but I hope you guys like it," Uncle Z said, placing a plate of pancakes in front of us both. He grabbed his own plate and sat down across from me. "Do you guys pray for your food?"

"Well…" Perry said, trailing off.

"He's a platypus, he doesn't do anything but scarf it down," I laughed. Perry turned a little red. "Have you ever even eaten human food? I know you've never had anything a fae's made before, but still?"

"Yes, yes I have," he nodded.

"Good, because fae food is pretty much the same as human food," Uncle Z chuckled. "Minus Slushy Dog's."

"Thank goodness," I said jokingly. Perry blinked.

"Pickles so green and meat so brow, lunch time's fun with Slushy the Clown," he sang. This time Uncle Z started laughing. I joined him. "What?"

"That's Slushy _Burger_," I told him. He turned a little red and laughed himself.

"You guys are fun," Uncle Z commented. He clasped his hands together and bowed his head. We did the same. He said a quick prayer for the food (with the added bonus of Perry inserting for our safety from possible evil) and told us we were free to eat. We found out as soon as we'd taken the first bite that Uncle Z was more than an amazing cook. I also learned that Perry could consume more than me, Ferb, and Ferb's dad put together. (When we were famished, might I add).

"Where the heck do you store all of that?" I asked, poking him in the stomach after we'd finished eating and were brushing our teeth. He shrugged.

"I was just hungry, it happens, you know," he said absentmindedly.

"Oh, really?" I said, raising one eyebrow. "If I'd have eaten that much, I'd either be sick or fat. How could the same not happen to you?"

"High metabolism," he rolled his eyes. "And I doubt you'd get fat in one sitting."

"You and I both know that in cartoons it doesn't take much," I laughed. He elbowed me in the side. "Hey!"

"Yeah, don't remind me," he grimaced.

"I sense a weird flashback is going through your head, is it not?" I smiled. I spit out my toothpaste and rinsed off my toothbrush.

"Yup," he nodded and proceeded to do the same. He grabbed a wash cloth out from under the sink and wiped the rest of the toothpaste off of his face. I cocked my head at him, curious. "What?"

"Do you mind sharing?" I chuckled. I wiped my face off as well, and then picked up a cup and filled it with water. He bit the lower part of his bill in thought. While I waited for his response, I dumped the cupful of water in my mouth, swished it around my mouth, gargled once, and spit it back out.

"Fine, but you get the short version," he sighed. "I once ate an entire wheel of cheese that was bigger than I am around. It looked pretty ridiculous and my nemesis would have probably laughed if it wasn't his cheese. Happy?"

"Yes, yes I am," I laughed. Trying to picture that was just too comical. He rinsed his own mouth out and left the bathroom. I followed behind him and stooped to grab my shoes. Pulling them on, I made sure to tie them in double-knots and hopped back to my feet. "Now I'm ready to conquer the world!"

"For a terrifying second- I thought you were going to say…" Perry started, but then his voice changed a little into a mock German accent. "The entire Tri-State Area!"

"Do what?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"Sorry, my nemesis has a Germanic accent," he explained. He shook his head. "So, what's on the agenda today?"

"Well, Uncle Z has to take me school shopping," I told him. "We're headed off to Skyen this upcoming Monday. So we have to get supplies today. Tomorrow- well, I guess we're just having a day of chilling and relaxing."

"If we end up in Diagon Alley…" Perry breathed.

"Say what now?" I frowned.

"Do you ever read anything written by the British?" he sighed. I shook my head and walked back out to find Uncle Z. He trailed behind me muttering about some people's lack of British interest. I rolled my eyes. Ferb was all of the British I'd ever embraced. Of course, that meant things like Football X-7 and crumpets, but he never forced British reading on me. (Not that Ferb forced me into anything. We just happened to like a lot of the same things that just so happened to be traditionally British).

"Alright, are we ready to go?" Uncle Z smiled at us. I nodded vigorously. He pulled a list out of his pocket and grinned. "I've got your first year supply list. They sent it to my address. So, let's get a wing on, shall we?"

"Some of us don't have wings," Perry huffed. "Real ones, in the least."

"And I have yet to learn how to fly," I pointed out. Uncle Z put one hand on his chin and stroked it thoughtfully.

"Well, I can go slower still," he said, his mood still as uppity as ever. "We don't really use cars. But, we can use transportation dust to get to D-"

"If you say Diagon!" Perry exclaimed.

"I was actually going to say Denam Square," Uncle Z said slowly. Perry let out a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead. He laughed at the platypus and pulled out some more dust. "Fun fact about transportation dust; you can't use it unless you have a license. Literally."

"So, if I threw it to use it- it wouldn't do anything?" I asked. He shook his head at me.

"Nope," he told me. He threw the dust at the door. "Take us to Denam Square, Skyen, Felhõ!"

The dust swirled around and then revealed a bustling shopping square. The buildings were literally in a square, and in the center was a giant fountain. In the middle of the fountain, there stood a mermaid figure that was spouting the water from her hand. Around the fountain, the roads were all cobblestone. Perry and I glanced at one another before stepping through the portal. Uncle Z followed us and closed it. Fae of all types were flying around, walking young children behind them or carrying them.

"Whoa," Perry said. "I've never seen such clean water…"

"Phin, keep your monotreme out of the fountain," Uncle Z sighed. I turned my head to see Perry actually sitting in the water. Great. Running over to the fountain, I hoped that no one saw him swimming in it. Naturally, I was too late. A young girl with wings and a young boy near her instantly saw him and scampered over to observe.

"Look, Shaun, there's a beaver in the fount!" she giggled. She pushed her long, blond hair behind her thin shoulders and beamed up at the older boy. He was flying next to her. They shared the same sky blue eyes, pale blond hair, and pale skin. I ran up beside them and panted a little. She looked at me with a little curiosity.

"Perry…get…out of…the fountain…" I gasped, trying to catch my breath. He ducked under the water and pretended like he couldn't hear me. Determined to reclaim him, I stood up on the edge of the fountain and leaned over to where he could see me. "I know you can hear me, you sorry no-count platypus! Out of the fountain!"

"If you insist," he said, popping his head out of the water. He jumped up on the side next to me.

"Was that so hard?" I frowned.

"Nope," he smiled. He gave me a rather rough shove and sent me down into the water myself. I put my hands out to catch myself, but there was nothing to grab onto. My body hit the water with a loud splash. Opening my eyes, I saw that the water was deeper than I thought it was. I struggled to pull my body up out of the water and ended up treading water near the center. I spat out some water and coughed a little. Perry was, of course, laughing so hard I thought he might pee himself. The girl caught my eyes and reached a hand out to me. I swam over and grabbed it. She pulled me out with all of her might. I ended up sopping wet on the cobblestone.

"Are you okay?" she blinked, bending down to help me to my feet. I took her offer again and stood up. "Your wings look pretty bad off…"

"Y-yeah I'm fine," I nodded. I took a glance over my shoulder to see that the tips of my wings were drooped over. Uncle Z flew over quickly and gave me a slight grimace.

"Whoa, there, buddy, I didn't say you jump in, too!" he sighed. I pointed at the hysterical Perry, who was at this point rolling on the ground and laughing. The girl glanced over and made a face.

"The beaver's yours?" she asked.

"He's a platypus," I told her. Her eyes lit up in amazement. "His name's Perry."

"My friend Keisha has a platypus," she laughed. She tilted her head a little. "Granted, I've never seen her, but she got her this summer. She's gonna take her to Skyen with her, though, so I'll get to meet her."

"You're going to Skyen, too?" I blinked.

"Yeah!" she said excitedly. "I'm going for my first year!"

"Me, too!" I smiled. "I'm Phineas. What's your name?"

"Katrina," she said. "But you can just call me Kat. My brother, Shaun, here does, and so does Keisha. I see you know Mister Z."

"Oh, yeah, he's my uncle," I nodded. She gasped. "What?"

"Does that mean…" her voice got really low and she leaned over close to me. "Are you the son of Haldjas Flynn?!"

"Why, yes, yes I am," I said. "Why?"

"You can trust us, I promise," she said giving me a knowing look. She grabbed one of my hands and pulled me out of the crowd. "My family, we're Amici. My dad is a Morus- his name's Jackson, and my mom is Carter."

"Uncle Z told me about them," I told her.

"Did he mention they both lost their ability to fly trying to protect your father?" she asked. I nodded again and let her keep going. "Well, just so we're clear on one thing…is it true that you're…a…you're half…"

"Human?" I frowned. She bit her lip, probably thinking she'd offended me. "It's okay, there's nothing wrong with asking that. It is true, by the way. I'm half-human, half-fae. Is that…is that weird?"

"No, no!" she said quickly. "I just didn't realize that half-fae, ya know, looked exactly like any other fae."

"Well, you couldn't pick me out of a crowd," I chuckled.

"Don't worry, though, Phineas," she said, grabbing my hand again. "Your secret is safe with me. I won't tell a soul."

"Thanks," I blushed. It was so weird being called a half-breed. She pulled me back over to where her brother, Uncle Z, and Perry were.

"You should chill with us while we shop," she suggested. "My parents, along with my oldest brother, Derek, and our pet fox Fiona, are just over at the shop getting school uniforms. We were supposed to stick close to her, but we saw your platypus in the fountain and just had to come see what that was all about."

"That'd be cool!" I grinned. I looked up at Uncle Z, who nodded in approval. "Yeah, we'll join you."

"Awesome!" she said, pumping one fist into the air. "We'd better go meet back up with my parents, then."

"Where are we going?" Perry asked, joining us in the conversation.

"Kat here's gonna shop with us," I told him. "We're joining their family for the day. Don't worry, they're safe."

"Ah, can she, ya know, understand me?" Perry said nervously. He looked at her and smiled. "It'd be weird if she couldn't."

"Can you speak to animals?" I said, turning to her for a moment. She shook her head no. "Oh, yeah, no she can't, Perry, sorry."

"Awk-ward," he muttered.

"Don't worry, buddy, I can translate if it's that important to you," I laughed. "Besides, she has a pet fox. I'm sure you can talk to her if you like. You're not against foxes, are you? They're friendly, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he shrugged.

"Then it's settled!" I grinned. "We're off to shop with Kat's family!"

"Sweet!" she said excitedly. "This is gonna be so awesome. First our uniforms, and then all of our school supplies- Skyen Academy, here we come!"

* * *

**Kat- a possible threat to Phinabella or do we think Phinny can pull through?**


	10. Uniforms and Keisha

**Kind of a filler here. -AJ **

* * *

The first stop was the place to pick up our school uniforms. Kat told me practically everything there was to know about receiving them. You were fitted by the tailor's assistant, and then the tailor herself would whip you up three weeks' worth of uniforms in a few seconds flat. Perry commented if there were a witch in mauve robes here, he'd make a personal call to J.K. Rowling. Kat and I just gave him a look. We caught up with her parents, Carter and Jackson, who were shopping alongside her older brother, Derek, who had a face very similar to his two younger siblings. The fox, Fiona, perked her ears up as soon as she saw Perry and scampered over to greet him.

"Mom, Dad, you will _never_ guess who I've found!" Kat said in an excited hush. They looked at her and bent over on her level.

"Why are we whispering?" Carter laughed. Kat grinned and pointed a thumb at me.

"He's the son of _Haldjas Flynn_," she said, trying not to say it too loudly. Both of her parents looked up at me and their mouths dropped open a little. Uncle Z coughed and waved at them. "The rumors were apparently true!"

"Y-you're Haldjas' son?" Carter stammered. I nodded, turning a little red in the cheeks. She walked over to me and knelt down in front of me.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, but instead of answering me, she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. Kat smiled a little and motioned for me to just go with it, so I did just that. She pulled back a little to look at me again, her eyes were filled with tears.

"And here I was thinking," she sniffled. "Trying to protect Haldjas was for naught."

"Ma'am?" I blinked.

"We had been informed by your grandparents that they were going to…to…" Carter pressed her fist to her mouth. Jackson put a hand on her shoulder and finished for her.

"They were intending to kill you," he said grimly. "The rumor was that they'd either forgotten or you'd survived…"

"But, the point of it all is that Phinny's okay, and we really should be getting them fitted, don't you think?" Uncle Z interjected. "Shaun, your brother's almost done."

"Zibby," Jackson said firmly. Uncle Z looked away from us. "What _didn't_ you tell everyone?"

"While you boys talk, I'll take these three to get their uniforms fitted, okay?" Carter said, standing up. She waved for Kat, Shaun, and me to follow her into the back of the shop where their brother Derek was just then getting off of the pedestal. A short woman fae flew over to us and smiled.

"Who's next?" she grinned.

"Shaun," Carter told her. Shaun flew up to the pedestal and let the short lady measure him. Kat turned to me and smiled.

"So, you grew up in the human world?" she asked, ever-curious and with a sweet tone.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"That's so cool," she remarked. "Humans are such a colorful race. They're so creative and funny. The only funny thing we have up here is leprechauns. And merpeople can be so dull sometimes."

"Ah," I raised my eyebrows, not fully understanding. I looked back at Shaun and the short lady. "So, when do you learn how to, ya know, fly?"

"They'll teach us in our first year at Skyen, don't worry," she laughed. "Although, you've probably noticed that wings can have a mind of their own sometimes, particularly when we're emoting."

"Yeah, I've noticed how they'll perk up and down according to mood," I chuckled. Perry and Fiona ran back in and stood beside us. "Hi, guys, where were you?"

"Fiona gave me a quick tour," Perry said blankly.

"Where'd they go?" Kat blink.

"They toured Deman Square," I translated. "Man, it's weird to be translating for animals. I mean, it's amazing, too, but I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that I could or would be doing that."

"Well, that is what type of fae you are," she giggled. I smiled and looked down at the two pets. That was when I noticed that Fiona also had wings.

"Whoa, animals can be fae, too?" I blinked.

"No," Kat shook her head. "Winged animals are known as Ainmhithe. That's what type of pet most fae have. There are the select few that have animals that are non-Ainmhithe, such as Perry, but it's a huge rarity."

"Whoa," I breathed. "Crazy stuff."

"You're telling me," Perry coughed. He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Now I feel all self-conscience about being the only non-winged thing for miles…"

"Shut up, you own a jet pack," I rolled my eyes.

"What's a jet pack?" Kat asked, tilting her head to one side curiously. Perry grinned and pulled it out of nowhere. I blinked. How'd he do that?

"Well, that's a jet pack," I chuckled. "Now, I'm curious as to where you pulled that from…"

"Er, that's highly classified information," Perry said, turning bright red. I made a face and decided I wasn't going to question him any further on the topic. Carter turned to us and pointed for one of us to hop up onto the tailor's pedestal. Kat pushed me a little and giggled.

"You go," she smiled.

"Okay," I laughed nervously. I walked over and got up onto the pedestal. The short lady flitted over to me and gave me a smile.

"So, what's your name?" she asked politely.

"Phineas," I told her. "And yours?"

"Oh, me?" she laughed. It sounded like notes being played on a flute that had been gently tuned to her perfect-sounding voice. "I'm Miss Sioda, the finest clothing producer in all of Felhõ. My assistant, Miss Cadas, isn't in today, so I'm doing double time."

I didn't say anything, mostly because I didn't really know what to say. She pulled out some measuring tape and began to measure every inch of my body. It wasn't long before she was holding fabrics up to me.

"Are you allergic to any types of fabrics, Phineas?" she questioned.

"No, no I'm not," I shook my head.

"Good, good," she nodded, and went back to her work. I looked down at Kat, who had been joined by another fae. She was about my height, with mocha brown skin and curly, black hair. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of emerald green. Beside her, sitting lazily on the floor, was a female platypus with wings who was slightly thinner and shorter than Perry. I assumed the girl, then, must be Keisha.

"Um, so, this is gonna sound like a, well, like a really stupid question," I frowned. "But, um, why does it hurt when someone touches your wings or when they get wet?"

"Oh, Phineas," Miss Sioda laughed again. "That's not a stupid question, sweetie. Our wings are fragile. They can break _very_ easily. Touching them is applying pressure to them that doesn't need to be there. Water, though, makes them heavy and renders them unusable for flight until they're completely dry. Don't be an idiot and make the mistake of trying to iron them out, I've seen too many fae try to do that and never have the ability to fly again."

"Oh," I nodded, taking that in and making a mental note to not iron my own wings. Of course, I couldn't see myself doing that anyways, it just sounds…like she said, idiotic.

"Alrighty!" she exclaimed. She conjured a large box and handed it to me. "Three weeks' worth of the finest Skyen Academy uniforms you can obtain in Felhõ."

"Thank you," I said, giving her a smile.

"Aw, so polite," she blushed. I got the feeling people didn't thank her enough. Hopping down off of the pedestal, I walked over to Kat and grinned.

"My turn?" she blinked. I nodded. "Well, while I'm doing this, you can get to know Keisha. And, if you like, you can introduce Perry to Brittney."

"Alright," I smiled. She walked off to the pedestal and I was left alone with Keisha and Brittney. "Hi."

"Hi," Keisha giggled. "So, Kat's been telling me all about you."

"Has she now?" I chuckled.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Your dad was the _bravest_ Morus to ever fly the planet. My parents would do anything to say that had that much loyalty to the desegregation of the world."

"So I've been told," I blushed. It was getting really strange that people were really fond of my dad. Not that I hated that, I just wish that I could have known him, too, so that I could have a decent conversation with someone. "Does that make your family Morus, too?"

"Yes," she nodded. "My parents said that I can join when I'm thirteen, even if the legal age is eleven. They want me to be able to fly first, I guess."

"Well, it would be easier to protect yourself," I shrugged.

"Touché," she laughed. "Someone running can easily be caught by someone flying really fast. Well, not even- they could be flying slowly and catch the runner. It's just wing sense. Wings outdo legs by a hundred to one."

"Yeah?" I grinned.

"You bet'cha!" Keisha said, putting her hands on her hips. Kat ran over with her own box and jumped in between us quickly. "Hey, Kat, what are you up to?"

"I'm just fly, how about yourself?" Kat said, trying to keep a straight face. It failed; she doubled over laughing and had to strain not to drop her box. "How _do_ the humans use that word, again?"

"Hmm, I guess we use it to mean 'cool,'" I frowned. "Like, you'd say, 'I'm feelin' so fly today'…well, I think that's how it goes…"

Both girls broke out into more laughter. I couldn't help but laugh, too. Granted, from their point of view I probably sounded stupider than I did to a human who actually used that word to mean 'cool,' but it was well worth the laugh. What didn't help us calm down was when Perry walked over. He wasn't truly paying that much attention to what was going on around him, but when he saw Brittney, his jaw practically dropped.

"Hey, um, Keisha, I think my platypus is about to hit on yours…" I chuckled.

More laughter. I had a good feeling I'd just made two good friends.

* * *

**It's hard to refrain from all of the Harry Potter references. xD **


	11. Suspicious

**Back to my favorite story! Well, one of my favorites to write, lol. -AJ **

* * *

That night, Uncle Z and I left Deman Square loaded with school supplies and without Perry. Half of me worried that we'd lost him, but the other half of me said he'd be fine and I shouldn't worry. I let the latter rule my thinking, even though the first half was screaming in protest. Uncle Z and I ended up eating dinner, just the two of us. It was pretty quiet, to be honest, as I learned that Perry was the drive of Uncle Z's banter. After dinner, I washed up, threw on my pajamas, and crawled into bed. I fell asleep not thinking of much else.

Late that night, well, I assume it was still night when it happened, I woke up to find Perry sprawled out on the edge of my bed. His snoring was heavy and his tongue was kind of lolled out of the side of his open mouth. Grimacing, I sat up and poked him. He woke up almost instantly and fell off the bed. I crawled over to the edge and peeked over it at him.

"What were you out doing?" I asked. He sat up groggily and hopped back on the bed.

"Nothing," he grumbled. I laid back down and he remained upright, rubbing his eyes and occasionally sighing. "Nothing of interest to you, that is."

"And what on Earth do you mean by that?" I continued. I had my suspicions; he'd been with Brittney practically all day and then he didn't turn up when it was time to go home. "Is this something you don't want me to know about or something I'd be totally uninterested in?"

"A little of both," Perry said crossly. I laughed and stared up at the ceiling. He came up beside me and laid down with his head on the pillow beside mine. "Why are you suddenly so interested in what I'm up to?"

"I've always been interested in what you've been up to," I chuckled a little. He raised his brow slightly and gave me a sideways glance. "C'mon, Perry, you disappear every day of your life and then reappear with no indication of where you've been; of course I was curious. Now I get to know you man-to-man. Is it too intrusive for you?"

"No, I'm just not used to this type of relationship," he replied quietly.

"Personal?" I frowned.

"Well, sort of, but I mean one I could communicate in," he sighed. I hadn't thought about that. With no other platypuses around, it must be a pretty quiet world for Perry if no one else could understand him. "It's just kind of strange to be able to talk to someone for the first time in my life."

"Whoa," I breathed.

"What?" he blinked.

"That's just…it's crazy to think about," I said. "Everything right now is crazy to think about. I can't take it all in."

"Neither can I," Perry said, letting out a long breath. He readjusted his hat on his head and shifted a little. "After hearing that story about your dad, I didn't know who to trust. This led me to snoop around your uncle a little…"

"Perry, why on Earth would you need to snoop around Uncle Z?" I rolled my eyes.

"I never trusted him from first sight," Perry snorted. "The guy's too carefree. The scent he gives off is north of sketchy. Those two, and he was a little too straightforward with that story about your father's death."

"You're making empty assumptions," I remarked. "Being carefree doesn't make a guy bad. Being honest doesn't either."

"But you don't find that story _overly_ candid?" he insisted. "And the fact that he knew _precisely_ when your wings grew in? Phineas, there's something not right about your uncle, if you would just hear me out."

"Fine, but don't just be throwing out empty accusations," I told him. "I know you flat out don't like him."

"Okay, so I came in tonight around, hmm, I'd say eleven o'clock," he started. "I walked in the front door and saw that your uncle was in the side room talking to two fae I didn't recognize right off the bat. One looked very similar to you and him, and the other was Carter- Kat's mom."

"So?" I sighed. "He was talking to friends."

"About you," Perry smirked.

"About _me_?" I reemphasized. He nodded. "Okay, this just got a little more interesting. What were they saying? And…keep it paraphrase, will you?"

"Well, it started out simple," he said, licking his bill a little. "They discussed how you were most definitely your father's son. Zauberin mentioned something about you being completely oblivious. Carter nodded and said that she was shocked that you bought the whole death story."

"Bought it?" I blinked.

"Yeah," Perry confirmed. I didn't want to believe him, but he sounded so sure of his story. "That's not the worst part, though. Carter mentioned a prophecy of some sort. She said that it had to be about you. The other fae, he brought up the idea that as long as you were oblivious to your own predestined fate, it shouldn't happen at all."

"So, wait, is Uncle Z lying to me, or is he just covering up some of the truth?" I asked, not sure at this point what to believe and what not to believe of Perry's story. "You haven't been very clear on that."

"I'm not entirely sure," he confessed. "I only heard bits and pieces of the story. I want to say they're covering up some of the truth, but my instincts say that your uncle is the one we should be worried about, not your grandparents."

"How do I know?" I sighed.

"We just have to watch and be careful," he told me. "If anything goes remotely wrong, I will get you out of here as fast as is possible."

"What if you're blowing all of this out of proportion?" I suggested. He tensed up a little bit and looked up at the ceiling to avoid my gaze. "Perry, I just have a hard time believing that he'd lie to me. He knows my mom and Mom somewhat trusts him. If Mom trusts him, he can't possibly be setting me up or anything."

"I never said he was setting you up," Perry corrected.

"You implied it," I said, raising my eyebrows at him. "The whole, 'bought the death story' comment. You're implying that he's the bad one, not his parents."

"Okay, yes, that is true," he nodded. "I do believe that Zauberin is the one to worry about and not his parents. I think he flip-flopped it to make it seem like he was doing you a favor. He's trying to gain your trust by lying to you."

"And what if he's not?" I asked. Perry fell silent for a moment.

"If he's not, then he's not and I'm wrong," he said quietly. He turned onto his side and faced the wall. I had nothing left to say on the topic either. Everything in me wanted to say he was wrong, but I couldn't help but wonder if he was right. Nothing I'd seen had hinted at Uncle Z being dishonest with me. Granted, he had made a very curt interjection in a conversation with Kat's dad earlier. It wasn't enough to convince me that my uncle was being fraudulent, though. Still, it was thought-provoking, what Perry had said.

I fell asleep, wondering if I really _was_ oblivious.

* * *

**Who's lying and who's not? **


	12. The Night Before

**Alas, I have been gone FAR too long! But, never fear; I'm back. -AJ **

* * *

_Light encompassed me. Everything in my vision was white; pure white. I felt around, trying to find something solid to hold onto. Was I flying? No, no; I was floating. Flying would mean that my wings were moving. Instead, I was still. _

_ Being suspended in this light was calming. I felt as if peace existed here, in this cloud of nothingness. Taking a deep breath, I relaxed my body and allowed it to simply hang limp in this wonderful null. For a moment, all was perfect. _

_Suddenly, everything seemed to thrum. I opened my eyes and turned my body around, a full one hundred and eighty degree turn. Something, no, wait, some_one_ was flying towards me slowly. The figure stopped in front of me, a black silhouette amidst the bright light. I put one hand to my brow, trying my best to see it as I squinted. It didn't help; it only made me even more curious about who was hovering before me. _

_ "Phineas." _

_ "Who's there?!" I called. It had been a man's voice, that I knew for certain. "Who are you?!" _

_ "You know who I am, Phineas." _

_ "I-I do?" I stammered, straining my eyes to see who was right in front of me. A hand came down on my shoulder and squeezed it. "If I know you, then why don't I recognize your voice? Why can't I put a face with it?" _

_ "Because you're not searching hard enough, Phineas." _

_ "I don't understand!" I cried. The man disappeared. I tried my hardest to propel myself forward. So desperately did I want to follow this man. What was his name? Why should I recognize him? Questions sped through my head at the speed of light. "Come back! Who are you? Who are you?!" _

_ Then, the scene around me changed. I was standing in my mother's kitchen, scraping the edge of a wooden spoon along the bottom of a stainless steel pan. It was empty, but I continued to drag its tip in a circle along the cooking dish's circumference. I stared down into its base, unable to turn my head from it. _

_ "The boy's not worth it, Zauberin," I heard a man say. Feet scuffled against the floor. I kept my head down. "He's not old enough to fight, so he won't be put up against the Purum! The Morus members mustn't assume he's ready until he's been properly taught at Skyen Academy. That's that, Zauberin." _

_ "Mr. Applebottom, whether we'd like to admit it or not, Phineas is going to have to face the Purum sometime or later," Uncle Z returned. The man, Mr. Applebottom, gave a loud sigh. "You and I both know that it's in his destiny to fight their leader. The one who killed his dad." _

_ "Are you mad?!" Mr. Applebottom hissed, sounding as if this were suicide that Uncle Z was asking I commit. "Phineas is a ten-year-old boy! He can't possibly face him! Zauberin, he murdered Haldjas; we both know that Haldjas was the most skilled fae in all of Felhõ. He was the best with magic, he could fight like no one else, and he was strong. If he could beat Haldjas, we're fools to think that Phineas stands a chance against him." _

_ My heart rate picked up. The words that were coming from their mouths entered my ears like a wave of betrayal. Uncle had never told me that it had been a single person who'd killed my father, and he'd certainly never told me that I had some sort of predetermined destiny. I yearend to know more, but every time I tried to turn my head to listen more as Uncle Z and Mr. Applebottom flew away, it locked and became as rigid as chair. _

_ "Uncle Z!" I called, but no words came out of my mouth. They were stuck in my throat, choking me to death. An iron vice around my airways kept the name from escaping my lips. No, I would not find out anything more tonight. Why? Why couldn't I call for him? _

I shot up in bed, sweat pouring off of my brow and my fists full of sheets. Taking a deep breath, I lay back down on my side and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down. Over and over again, I continued to tell myself that I was fine and that it was just a dream. But no matter how hard I tried to tell myself that, the more I began to suspect it for truth. Shutting my eyes tightly, I fell asleep once more, willing it to be dreamless.

* * *

**Okay, since the Harry Potter jokes are way too abundant in this, I'm going to make a concession and put out that "Applebottom" was NOT an INTENDED spoof or hint to "Longbottom." It was, however, pointed out to me that the two names were similar, and I can reassure you, it's not that. But...with all due respect to Rowling, it's hard not to insert these spoofs...**


	13. Fae Transportation

**I watched a lot of Harry Potter two weeks ago. Not that you needed to know that...it was very random. -AJ **

* * *

"And I'm telling you, it wasn't like a normal dream!"

Perry was having a hard time wrapping his mind around my dream. I'd told him everything, every little detail, and he'd said that it was probably a result of me hearing his spiel about Zauberin before I'd fallen asleep. I'd argued that it had felt more real. He said I needed to wake up.

Breakfast had been a quick meal of hot brown sugar oatmeal with glasses of milk. We'd swallowed it down, cleaned up, and bolted out of the door. Uncle Z told me that we needed to meet at a special place for the Skyen Academy Transportation Services to come and pick up all of the students. Perry quietly swore under his breath something about a train. It was pointed out to him rather quickly that fae don't use trains. I laughed when Uncle Z told him this.

"Well, I'm just saying," Perry said, casting him a look of distrust. "Your fae world seems so similar to a fictional wizarding world sometimes."

"Perry, you need to cut off your supply of fantasy novels," I chuckled. He continued to mutter under his breath while I got my things in order. Once I was completely packed for school, I picked up my luggage and ran out of the front door. Uncle Z then threw some of the transportation dust onto the sidewalk and called out a name I didn't catch. Perry and I fell through and landed on more sidewalk.

"Thanks for the warning…" Perry grumbled.

"You're welcome," Uncle Z grinned. He grabbed us each by the hand and pulled us up to our feet. "Welcome to the Skyen Station. It's basically a large base for teleportation. All of the students, pets, and luggage are put on a big rectangular area, and a trustworthy adult, usually a teacher of some sort, will use a special type of transportation dust to teleport everyone on the platform to Skyen Academy."

"That's not complicated," I sighed. Uncle Z chuckled and patted me on the back.

"Oh, no," he shook his head. "Not at all. Skyen Academy isn't the only thing this station is used for, though. Some fae come here on business or family vacations. It's much faster than a plane, car, or train, if you ask me."

"Why can't you just walk or fly up to school?" I frowned, looking up at my uncle to see if there indeed was a reason.

"Well, some places, such as Skyen Academy, can't be reached unless you use specific methods," he explained, shoving his hands down into the pockets of his jeans. "One doesn't just walk into Skyen Academy. It's impossible. You have to get there via this station. Why do you ask?"

"I don't particularly enjoy traveling with transportation dust," I told him, raising my brow. He furrowed his own and gave me a questioning look. "It's a tad freaky to me. I don't enjoy just falling out of the sky wherever I want to go."

"It'll be less untasteful once they teach you how to use those wings of yours," Uncle Z reassured me. I went to comment again, but I felt someone tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Kat's smiling face staring back at me.

"Hey, Phineas!" she said excitedly. "What'cha doing?"

"I, uh, well, on my way to school I guess," I replied, tugging at my collar a bit. The fact that she'd greeted me the same way Isabella always did made my gut turn. I hoped that she wouldn't be a living reminder that I couldn't see Isabella everyday. "You know…learning the ropes and other such things."

"This is going to be absolutely _wonderful_!" she said, grinning in such a way that made my palms go sweaty. It was then I noticed that her voice was unusually similar to Isabella's. What was wrong with me? Swallowing I smiled back and nodded. "Just think- today we're going to get assigned classes and roommates. We'll learn who are teachers are and we'll learn what subjects we're going to take. Oh, this is all so _very_ exciting!"

"Yeah," I said, continuing to nod. "I'm actually kinda nervous."

"That's natural," Shaun winked, flying up beside us. He was holding his luggage in one hand and Fiona's leash in the other. "I was nervous the first time I went to Skyen Academy. But once you make friends and get used to the swing of things, everything will be just fine."

"I certainly hope so," I mumbled. I readjusted my grip on the handle of my suitcase and shifted my feet. Keisha came over and started a conversation with Shaun and Kat. I stayed out of it mostly because they were discussing some sort of placing system at the Academy that I didn't know about. My mind wandered off, and I found myself thinking back to my dream. It wasn't long that I thought on it, though, because Uncle Z grabbed me by the shoulder and steered me over to Platform 7 behind Kat, Keisha, and Shaun.

A tall, middle-aged lady fae came and hovered in front of the platform. She was wearing an emerald green dress that fell to her ankles and shoes to match. Her black hair was up in a tight bun and her square glasses sat on the very tip of her nose. The wings holding her up looked similar to mine, only translucent black over green with clear membrane. She cleared her throat and the crowd fell silent.

"Welcome, parents and students, once more to Platform 7, the Skyen Academy portal," she said, smiling sweetly at everyone her eyes met. "For those that have boarded the portal before, please get on behind me and wait while I help the new students."

A wave of kids, some who were already in their uniforms, flew up onto the large, flat rectangle behind her. It was white and so flat that a bump in its surface would have been visible to a blind man. They stood still and held their bags and suitcases in their hands patiently. The lady watched them file onto the platform for a moment, and then she turned her head back to the rest of us and took a quick breath.

"Well, for those of you who _don't_ know, I'm Professor McAllen," she said, showing us all of her perfect, white teeth. "I'm the head of the crystal fae department at Skyen Academy, and I am also in charge of the Skyen Academy Transportation Services. I teach two subjects; Basic Fae Magic and Crystal Fae Magic. Now, as we are on a time schedule, I would like the new students to hop up onto the platform so that we can get to the school. Once we arrive there, please, everyone, change into your school uniforms and wait for further instruction."

She fluttered onto the platform and waited for the new students to climb aboard. I turned around and gave Uncle Z a quick hug. He pulled me away and looked me in the eyes, a sad smile on his face.

"Promise you'll be okay, kiddo?" he asked.

"I'll be fine, Uncle Z," I told him. "I promise."

"Good, good," he nodded, pulling me in for another hug. He sighed. "I wish your father was here to see this. He'd be so proud of you, Phineas. Just remember that, okay?"

"I will," I smiled. I hopped up onto the platform beside Kat and waited.

* * *

**PLATFORMS. **


	14. Skyen Academy

**Okay, so two characters from this that are OC's have been based off of Waffleman (owner of this FFN account) and Killua (if you haven't heard me mention him, I'm rather shocked, he's my loving BF). Shh, no tell them yet xD -AJ **

* * *

The first thing we saw when we reappeared was the largest building I think I've ever seen. It wasn't exactly modern, but it wasn't, like, a rustic castle either. If I were to place a time on it, I'd say it looked like a German castle that had been remodeled to look like a modern artist had gotten ahold of it. The towers were like skyscrapers, but it was built out of stone instead of glass. Kat and I gave each other an amazed look and gingerly hopped off of the platform we'd appeared on.

"So that's Skyen Academy," Kat breathed. "I've waited a long time to see this."

"I've waited all of three days…" I chuckled under my breath. Or was it four? Not that it mattered, but usually I don't miss-count. Shaking my head, I shifted my luggage in my hand and looked at Perry who was having a full-blown conversation with Brittney. I hadn't even noticed that our pets had followed. "I think Perry and Brittney are hitting it off real nice."

"I'd give anything to know what they were saying," Keisha giggled. "Can you hear them?"

"Sorta," I shrugged. "They're kind of talking in a whisper. I'm sensing they know that I can understand them and might be eavesdropping."

"Smart animals," Kat grinned. She started to look around frantically.

"I'll say," Keisha shook her head. I gave her a small smile and she stepped closer to me. "You know, I'm curious to know what they were doing the other night. I've never known Brittney to just wander off."

"You're putting some really bad images in my head," I swallowed. She nearly doubled over in laughter.

"Oh, Phineas, I'm kidding!" she told me, punching me in the chest as she did so. "I don't think animals get like that when they're domesticated. It can't possibly be natural for them to just…ya know."

"Who told you that?" I blinked. That was the weirdest suggestion I'd ever heard anyone say. "I thought they were just like any other animal until you got them fixed."

"Fixed?!" Perry exclaimed. I turned my head to look at him. He had a panicked look on his face. "Who's getting fixed?!"

"Not you," I rolled my eyes. Keisha gave me a questioning look. "He thinks we're talking specifically about him. Granted if we see any suspicious behavior…I'm most likely going to take that into consideration."

Perry grabbed Brittney and pulled her in front of him. This was a funny sight to see, since she was practically hovering in front of him and he was having to avoid her wings while standing behind her. She gave him a questioning look, and then she shrugged at me.

"I don't get it," she frowned. I blinked and turned my focus back to Keisha.

"So, what's your special power?" I asked, trying to ignore the platypuses behind us. Before she could answer me, Kat grabbed us both by the arm and sprinted over towards a group of kids that looked about our age.

"Keisha, Keisha, it's your super-secret crush!" she exclaimed, pointing amidst the crowd. Keisha turned bright red. I looked in the direction she was pointing. There was a boy fae, slightly taller than myself, who had curly brown hair and light skin. He was smiling and talking to another boy was a deep shade of chocolate and had short, black hair. Both wore glasses.

"Kat, you really shouldn't say that out loud," Keisha blushed.

"Which one?" I asked nonchalantly.

"The dark chocolate one!" Kat squealed. "His name is Pyrus! He's a fire fae. And man- do all of the girls think he's _dreamy_!"

"Right…we're ten," I nodded. I couldn't really talk- I had Isabella to think about and see as the most beautiful thing in the uni- yeah, okay, I get bad at narrating when I think about her. Can you blame a guy?

I felt a poke in my right side. Turning to look, I saw Perry and Brittney staring up at me with large grins on their faces. Fortunately for me, Perry looked perfectly content away from home, even though he'd been pretty open about being torn. This made my thoughts wander to Ferb. I wonder what he was doing. Baljeet and Buford, too.

"Professor McAllen's gonna speak again!" Kat said, making sure to shush everyone near to us. Keisha turned an even brighter red. Something told me Keisha was shy.

"Alright, is everybody here?" the Professor announced. She had no need for a microphone, she was so loud. "Now, if you've been here before, go into the building and head straight for your dormitories. If you're a first year, I'd like you to please follow me. Mind you all keep your pets nearby, and please don't lose your luggage. We're not responsible for anything you can't find."

"That's mighty useful," a kid behind us snickered. He grabbed me by the shoulder and turned me around. I blinked and waited to see what his intentions were. "Say, I've never seen you around Skyen before."

"I'm a first year," I said, hoping that was enough of an excuse to have never been on this campus before.

"I figured that, nitwit," the kid chuckled. "I meant the city, not the school."

"Oh, well, why didn't you say so?" I smiled. He seemed to take offense to that, so I hurriedly filled in a better explanation. "You know, I'm from out of town. As in, not from Skyen. So, why should I have been walking around there?"

"Nobody comes from 'out of town' unless they're…you can't be…" the kid's face changed from a sneer to pure repulsion. "Hey, guys- I think we've found ourselves a half-fae!"

"What? Me? No!" I said, trying to play it off like they were crazy. "My family's moving to Skyen in a month or so, and they didn't want to have me transfer over or anything. It's nothing like those…those half-fae people…"

"You know what we do to half-fae?" the kid said, cracking his knuckles. I swallowed and started to back away from him. "You just try and run, little halblutt. We'll get you, I swear."

"Um, oh, hey, there you are, Kat!" I said nervously, turning around and taking off after Kat and Keisha. Kat turned around and frowned at me. "H-hey, I was just talking to that kid back there, and he called me a halibut, I think."

"Halibut?" Kat blinked. She shook her head vigorously and frowned. "No, no, no, I think he called you a _halblutt_."

"What's that, then?" I asked.

"That's a dirty way of calling someone a half-fae," Keisha said softly. "Did you tell him your last name or something?"

"No, not at all," I shook my head. "Why?"

"Well, you usually can't tell a half-fae from a pure-blood fae," Kat informed me. "Something about you must have made him think of humans…"

I knew precisely what she meant. My mention of not being from Skyen. This was bad.

* * *

**Sigh. I'm thinking this kid is gonna be a weird Draco Malfoy-Buford Van Stomm mixture. Oops to the "mudblood" reference...**


	15. The Welcome

**A filler chapter. -AJ **

* * *

We first-years were all led into a large gymnasium of sorts. Many let out a few gasps. Kat tugged at my sleeve and pointed to the equipment all over the floor. She seemed rather excited that we'd get to use it. I wondered what kinds of things fae would do during a physical education class or a sports match. Professor McAllen sat us all down on the bleachers and told us to hush.

"Now, children, welcome to Skyen Academy!" she said sweetly, smiling at as many of us as she could. "At this school, you will learn the best and brightest ways to assert yourself as a young fae. You'll learn to use your special gifts, you'll learn of the many opportunities there are for young fae, and you'll learn of our rich history."

"Will we learn about the humans?" one boy in the front asked out of turn. I recognized him as one of the the young fae that had been standing by the boy who'd called me out for being a half-fae earlier.

"Yes, Mister Dagley, you _will_ learn about humans," the professor said indignantly. "You will also learn to raise your hand before speaking. Is that clear?"

"Of course, Professor McAllen," he said, turning red in the cheeks. He raised his hand and smiled sheepishly. "May I speak, then?"

"What do you need, Mister Dagley?" she huffed. Her wings flitted a little faster when she said this.

"Do we have to share this school with- with half-fae, Professor?" he asked, seeming a little nervous about asking such a question. The professor's face transformed from sweet and kind to that of a martinet.

"Mister Dagley, here at Skyen Academy, we do not discriminate!" she said crossly. "We treat fae and humans as one and the same! Half-fae are a beautiful demonstration of those who have accepted that we are only different in that we have wings. Am I understood, Mister Dagley?"

"Yes…" he mumbled in response.

"Now, in the next few hours we will be assigning your roommates and giving you your schedules," Professor McAllen said, immediately switching back from her strict side to her sweet side again. That gave me a shudder. I made myself a mental note to stay on her good side. "We also would like to inform you that here at Skyen, this is a safe environment for everyone, so please try to get along with everyone."

"Yes, Professor McAllen," came the chorus of bored voices.

"Alrighty, then!" she said promptly. She flew over to a door in the back of the gym and waved for us all to follow. "Come now, children! We have a _lot_ of organizing to do, and only a few hours before dinner to do so! Put yourselves into a single file line and please don't speak. It would be terrible for you to ruin your image on the first day at Skyen, now wouldn't it, Mister Dagley?"

"Yes, Professor," he said, putting his head down a little. He shot a hateful glance back at me. I straightened up and felt my wings quiver a little. I wasn't exactly scared, but all the talk of the radicals with Uncle Z did unnerve me a little bit. Kat grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me along into line.

"This is so exciting!" she whispered. "I can't wait! I hope I'm with Keisha!"

"Yeah," I nodded. Perry hopped over beside us and smiled.

"Can I room with Keisha, too?!" he grinned. Kat and I both screamed 'no' at the same time.

* * *

**Yeah, just a filler. Not much to say on it. **


	16. A Supposed Prophecy

**Hey, this one picks up a little. -AJ **

* * *

Two words came to mind when I first saw dinner:

Oh snap.

I was expecting, naturally, a school lunch that was posing as a dinner. After all, this was a school, was it not? Apparently I was wrong on the lunch food idea. I felt like I was walking in on fine dining when we entered the dining hall. Dozens of round tables sat scattered across the hall, each decorated with a red tablecloth, two red candles, and a clear vase full of red tulips. We were instructed to choose a seat and wait for the headmaster to come in. Kat, Keisha, and I sat down at a table, and Pyrus and his friend sat down with us.

"H-hi, Pyrus," Keisha blushed. Pyrus smiled good-naturedly and waved excitedly. His friend elbowed him and pointed at me. The pointing finger was swatted down my none other than Kat, who had to reach across me to do so. Sitting in a circle, it was her, then, going to her right, me, Pyrus' friend, Pyrus, two fae we didn't know, a boy and a girl, and then Keisha. (Perry and Brittney weren't at the table with us, as animals had to eat in the dorms of their owners).

"It's not nice to point, Donar," she said hurriedly. "If you've got a question, then share it with everyone."

"I told you, call me Don!" Donar said, huffing a little. "I hate Donar, it sounds weird."

"Chill, Donny!" Pyrus said, lightly punching his friend in the shoulder. Don gave him a harsh look. Apparently that name didn't go down too well in his mind, either. "Sorry, I'm hungry and need waffles."

"Waffles sound awesome," I said absent-mindedly.

"So, new kid, welcome to the group," Don smiled at me. "What's your name?"

"Phineas," I said, returning the smile. "I already know Kat and Keisha, we met at Deman Square."

"Ah, but you haven't met Pyrus, Corbin, or Hannah, have you?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Don't believe I have," I chuckled. I nodded at each of them in turn. "It's nice to make your acquaintance."

"Remember, this is the group you need to stick with," Corbin spoke up. He had straight black hair, pale blue eyes, black wings, and near-white skin. "We're probably the only ones that can, you know, keep you out of the way of half-fae haters."

"How'd you know I was half-fae?" I raised one eyebrow curiously. That was twice today that someone had just guessed that out of the blue.

"Let me cut to the chase," Don said, leaning his elbows on the table and sitting forward a little. "If people don't know you from Skyen and you show up at Skyen Academy, you're either a half-fae or a human wearing fake wings."

"Oh," I blinked.

"Yeah, practically everyone here will have guessed that you're a half-fae by the end of the first week," Hannah said quietly. She had mouse-brown hair that was wavy, tan skin, brown eyes, a peach-colored pair of butterfly wings, and wore thick, square glasses. "They guessed that Pyrus was one before he was even in the gates."

"You're a half-fae, too?" I asked, tilting my head towards him. He nodded with a huge grin on his face.

"Yup," Pyrus said happily. "My dad's the owner of Eggo waffles. My mom's a fire fae. It's a great life. We live up here, no one bothers us. Felhõ's government has been doing a good job keeping the peace since Haldjas Flynn died. You've heard of him, right?"

"Yes," I said, dipping my head. "He…he was my father."

"WHAT THE CHEESE?!" Corbin exclaimed, causing several people in the room to turn their heads around to look at our table. We all awkwardly waved and waited for everyone to stop staring at us like we were aliens. "Sorry, Phineas, I just…I'd have thought that Mister Z would have never brought you up here."

"Why's that?" I questioned.

"Dude, you're the son of _Haldjas Flynn_," Hannah said in a hushed tone. She leaned forward a little and looked around suspiciously before continuing. "He's the most famous Morus martyr in all of Felhõ! The government's still got debates going on about it. The Purum are highly upset that he, being brought up a Purum, would turn his back on them and actually die to defend their enemies. Very few people know that Haldjas had kids, even fewer know that their mom is a human being. If the Purum found out about you…you'd be dead meat."

"That's reassuring…" I mumbled.

"Look, the chances of someone guessing that you're the son of Haldjas Flynn is ten to one," Pyrus said with a certainty to his voice. "It's not nearly as probable as people figuring out you're a half-fae. Being a half-fae might cause a couple of arguments, but being the son of Haldjas Flynn- that's a totally different story."

"You make it sound like being his son is some kind of bad omen," Kat inserted rather angrily.

"Haven't you heard about the supposed prophecy?" Don raised one eye-brow and absent-mindedly began to fold his napkin in triangles.

"Prophecy?" Kat, Keisha, Corbin, and I said in unison. We looked at each other blinking, and then turned our attention back to Don.

"Yeah, supposedly, there's a prophecy surrounding the only child of Haldjas Flynn to show his or her fae genetics," he said. He looked up at me. "Unless you've got a sibling that's sprouting wings also."

"No…" I shook my head. "I mean, yes, I have more siblings, an older sister and a stepbrother, but, yeah, Candace doesn't have wings or anything like that."

"Ah, so it could be true!" Pyrus said excitedly. A grin spread across his face. "I always did love a good adventure story…if there was fire involved, that is."

"_What_ could be true?" Kat said earnestly.

"Okay, so it's been said that on the night Haldjas died, a prophecy was spoken by one of the witnesses who was a seer fae," Don said, keeping his voice low and his tone serious. "The prophecy mentioned a great battle between his son, 'The Avenger of His Death,' and his murderer, who is known as the most dangerous fae of our time."

"The m-most dangerous f-fae of our t-time?" Keisha stammered. "But, there's no way in the world…Shadowslayer is in prison!"

"You ever heard of a prison break, Keisha?" Hannah snorted, rolling her eyes.

"But, that's just a story, isn't it?" I frowned, hoping that they would nod their heads in agreement with my question. None did, though. "Well…who's this Shadowslayer guy, then?"

"If you insist…" Pyrus sighed. "It was a dark and stormy night…"

* * *

**Killua (the inspiration for Donar) helped create Shadowslayer's name. I think he deserves a kudos.**


	17. Shadowslayer's Story

**Picking up where Pyrus left off. -AJ **

* * *

"Pyrus, we all know, save for Phineas, that Shadowslayer's tale didn't start on a dark and stormy night," Keisha rolled her eyes. Dinner had arrived; plates were covered with potatoes, carrots, peas, and a chunk of beef roast, all steaming hot and ready to eat. She poked her fork into a potato and placed it in her mouth. "Tell it right."

"Sorry, it was a good cliffhanger in my mind," Pyrus chuckled. He also ate a potato. "Okay, in a small village just outside of Skyen there lived two of the nicest people you could ever meet- the Ombres. One, the mother, was a fae. She was a shadow fae, one of the most powerful fae in the world, but she never used her powers. Her husband, however, was a human. He was a Frenchman, one who had worked in great foundries in France.

"It wasn't too long before they had their firstborn son and only child. His name was Sampson. Sampson was an unusually strong boy for a half-fae, and oftentimes people wondered about his strength going too far. His parents were constantly reassuring people that just because his wings grew in too early and his powers began to show signs too early it didn't mean he was of ill health or was a danger to the public.

"Then, his father died. Years of working in the foundries had taxed his body, and as Sampson turned ten, his father passed on. It was a sad and a happy year for him at the same time, because he was accepted into Skyen Academy and was off to it a few days after his father's funeral.

"He was something of a loner, though. His father's death had turned him inwards. He'd loved his father more than anything else in the world. Going through school, he'd take as many classes as he could about humans, hoping to solve the riddle as to why his father had died so young and been stolen away from him by death. This got him thinking, and not in a positive way.

"Sampson soon came to hate humans. He was, in fact, the creator of the Purum groups. Before him, there were only the Inimicis and the Amicis. Radicals were highly unheard of. He started that group, rallying all of the human-haters. He never once told them that he was half-human, of course, and never told them that he was the infamous Sampson Ombre. He had a new name- one that would strike fear into the hearts of fae everywhere. He translated his French last name to English- Shadow- and added 'slayer' behind it. His new mission was to kill humans. His father had been a shadow, and he would slay all of the others.

"The Purum, of course, became some of the nastiest of fae. They went around killing humans and half-fae, telling everyone that they were doing so to cleanse the nation of Felhõ. Outraged, some of those who loved humans then built up the Morus group to try and fight off the Purum. This battle had been going on for a good thirty years when your father was killed.

"The night he was killed, as many people know, Shadowslayer himself was supposedly the one to bring about his horrific death. Many believe it was just one of his loyal followers. Only your uncle knows the truth, though. He was the only one watching every knife stroke carefully, screaming out profanities and such. The prophetess gave her prophecy about The Avenger and all was said and done. Our authorities arrested Shadowslayer on the spot, accusing him of murder. He is now in the most heavily guarded prison known to man or fae- Zatvor Prison in the city of Lasa."

"Wow, that's just the basics?" I said, scratching my ear nervously.

"Yeah," Hannah nodded. "There's more to his life, but it's too horrific to mention now."

I swallowed hard. Great. Now my appetite was gone, and I was gonna have nightmares.

* * *

**Uncle Z- kinda avoiding some truth, eh? (Spoiler Alert: Next Chapter will be Isabella-oriented!)**


	18. Lonely (Isabella's Point of View)

**A new angle for you. -AJ **

* * *

Tap.

I sat down my pen on my desk and sighed. Today was the first day of school and Phineas wasn't there to enjoy it with me. To be fair, he _was_ at a magical school in a supernatural realm that would have probably suited me better. He was so lucky to be within a community of fairies. What she wouldn't give to be there with him.

Something hard hit the back of my head. I turned around quickly to see Buford snickering. Reaching around the back of my head, I felt something wet and gooey in my hair. Of course he did. I glanced at our homeroom teacher to see if he was paying us any mind. Once his eyes were focused on the board behind him, I threw an eraser back at the bully.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. The teacher, Mister Parker, whirled around to face him.

"Mister Van Stomm, did you have something to share with the class?" he demanded. Buford furrowed his brow and scowled. He pointed one accusatory finger at me and stood up a little. I heard Baljeet sigh off to the side.

"Isabella's throwin' stuff at me!" he said indignantly.

"Is this true, Miss Garcia-Shapiro?" Mister Parker asked, turning to me now.

"Buford's spit-ball is stuck in the back of my hair," I said forcefully. I grimaced. Why were some boys just so gross?

"Turn around and let me see," Mister Parker instructed me. Frowning, I stood up and turned so that my back faced him. Everyone in front of my leaned out of their desks, craning their necks to see if I was lying or not. "Ah, Miss Garcia-Shapiro, that is not a spit-ball. That is a wad of gum, I'm afraid."

"Seriously, Buford?!" I spat. The rest of the class burst out in laughter. Baljeet and Ferb, who were sitting over to my right, gave me a polite look of empathy.

"What?" he blinked. The bully couldn't stop himself from cracking up. "It's too ordinary to stick it under the table. And I'm too lazy to throw it in the trash can. So, I figured since Baljeet wasn't in front of me, you were the next best thing."

"Mister Van Stomm, I will deal with you when I get back from taking Miss Garcia-Shapiro to the nurse's office," Mister Parker said. He grabbed me roughly by the shoulder and dragged me out of the room, all the way up to the nurse's office. "I am sorry for Mister Van Stomm's behavior, Miss Garcia-Shapiro."

"He's done worse…" I moaned, distinctly remembering him shoving me into a sack on my birthday in more than one instance. It made me truly feel sympathetic towards Baljeet, who had to deal with his ways almost constantly.

"I am sorry to hear that," he murmured. We arrived at the clinic in silence. He pulled me over to the nurse, explained the situation, and she shooed him off to his classroom. She took me into the back and sat me in a chair.

"Boys, boys, boys," she muttered. The name on her tag said that she was Nurse Stanley. "At this age they never know how to act. They just act. No reasoning, no thought behind it, no nothing up there…"

"I don't think he'll ever grow out of it…" I sighed. She removed a pack of ice from the refrigerator and pressed it to the back of my head. Wincing, I tried not to think about the coldness and did my best to focus on what she was saying.

"Some never do," she said, sucking her teeth together. "My husband can still act like a boy sometimes, and he's sixty-three. Remember this, Miss Garcia-Shapiro, at this age you can never trust them like you can at my age. They don't know what they want. They could tell you that they love you, and then, next week, they're trying to flirt with the cute girl across the lunchroom."

"Phineas would never do that!" I exclaimed, not thinking before I spoke.

"Is that who put the gum in your hair?" Nurse Stanley blinked.

"Er, no," I blushed. "Phineas…he doesn't go to school here. He's…he's my boyfriend. Lives across the street from me."

"Ah, I see," she nodded. She removed the pack of ice and looked at the back of my head. Grunting with dissatisfaction, she pressed the ice pack back into my head. "Home-schooled?"

"Private school, boarding school," I corrected. It wasn't a total lie.

"You miss him then?" she raised one eyebrow.

"I do," I swallowed. She smiled softly. "I miss him more than I can say. He was supposed to go to school here, but plans changed and his mom sent him off to that school. I last saw him on Friday. We played croquet."

"Croquet? Cute," Nurse Stanley hummed. I could tell she was somewhat amused by the fact that we were this young and in love. Well, okay, it was real to me. I'm sure it was real for Phineas, too, though. He wasn't one to usually lie. "Would this school be the Catholic school downtown?"

"Oh, no," I shook my head. "It's…not a school that you would be familiar with."

"Oh?" she raised her brow. "Not in Danville, then?"

"No, ma'am," I said, shaking my head again. "It's a…special school. For…special people. You know. Not an ordinary school. It's…I'm having trouble saying this…"

"Ah," she nodded. It was hard to talk about where Phineas was if I couldn't say anything. What was it he'd said about it being a secret? I just knew that it was better to not say anything. The less people asked, the easier it would be, though. "Will he come see you on breaks and things like that?"

"I sure hope so," I said quietly. "He said he would write."

"Write?" Nurse Stanley laughed. "Now there is a boy who knows how to do it. He doesn't call you, he writes. It would seem that you found a good one, Miss Garcia-Shapiro. You'd be good to keep him."

"He is a good catch," I giggled to myself softly. I wondered if he was writing write then. What had he seen? What did this land look like? Who had he met? Was Perry enjoying himself with a bunch of fairies? I caught myself laughing at the mental image of Perry chasing the fae that Phineas was trying to converse with because he'd mistaken them for butterflies.

"What was that?" Nurse Stanley asked, pulling the ice away from my head again. I shook my head. "Ah, there we go, I can pull it right out, now."

She removed the gum from my hair and brought a sanitary comb through it. When she was done, she told me good-bye, wrote me a pass back to class, and sent me on my way. I walked back to class as slowly as I could manage. I was in no rush to be in a homeroom with Buford again this morning. After this incident, there was one thing I knew for certain about this school year that I'd never realized before.

It was going to be dreadful.

* * *

**Poor Isa. **


	19. Roommates

**Back to Phineas:) -AJ **

* * *

That night, we were put into our dorm rooms. Luckily enough for me, Don, Corbin, and Pyrus were going to be my roommates, so I didn't have to get stuck with having to hold back my tongue about being a half-fae. Our things were already in the rooms when we arrived, as was a snoring Perry.

"Okay, who brought the beaver?" Corbin chuckled. He pulled a pencil out of his pocket and gently poked Perry's side. The platypus leapt up and jumped under one of the four beds. I laughed and pulled him back out.

"Yeah, um, this is Perry," I smiled. "He's my pet platypus."

"Cool!" Don grinned. "That's the first animal I've seen that wasn't an Ainmhithe. Is it a boy or a girl?"

"I kinda just called him a 'he,' Don," I frowned. "That would imply that he's a boy."

"Right, right, I knew that," Don said, waving off the fact that I'd just called him out on something rather simple. He reached one hand out and ruffled Perry's fur. "This is gonna be the weirdest question, but do female animals that aren't Ainmhithe all lay eggs, too?"

"What?" I blinked. "No, no, actually, only reptiles, fish, birds, and monotremes, like Perry, are oviparous."

"Ovi- what?" Pyrus asked, standing up from behind one of the beds.

"Oviparous," I repeated. "That means 'egg-laying' in a manner of speaking."

"Oh," Don, Pyrus, and Corbin sang in unison. They all turned and blinked at one another. Pyrus and Corbin set about unpacking their things again. I set Perry down on the bed they'd deemed mine and began to unzip my own bag.

"So, they, like, give natural birth?" Don questioned, still very intrigued by the fact that mammals in the rest of the world didn't lay eggs.

"Yes," I nodded.

"And the platypuses actually lay eggs?"

"Um, yeah, don't Ainmhithe platypuses do that, too?" I raised one eyebrow. "Platypuses are known for being egg-laying mammals, you know."

"Legit?!" Don exclaimed, receiving a pair of odd stares from myself and Corbin. Pyrus remained in his bag, mumbling something about 'waffle soda.' Don shifted his feet a little, but plowed right back into the conversation. "Wow, around here, they're known as being the only Ainmhithe that _don't_ lay eggs!"

"That's weird and backwards…" I muttered under my breath. I saw Perry sit up quickly out of the corner of my eye. "What's wrong, boy?"

"I just…don't want to picture that," Perry shook his head. Laughing, I stroked his back and told him not to worry. "Right…I'll do that."

"Whoa, you can talk to animals!" Corbin said excitedly. "I always wanted to be an animal fae. They're crazy awesome, talking to animals, summoning them to do cool things, morphing into animals with their magic and all. I got stuck with being a dark energy fae. I mean, we're powerful and stuff, but it's just not as cool."

Everyone blinked at him like he was the crazy one.

"Hey, dark energy isn't a joke, dude…" he mumbled.

"Eh, I suppose," Don shrugged. "I'd like to control dark energy, but I absolutely love being a spark fae."

"A spark fae?" I said, tilting my head to the side.

"Yeah, we can, like, generate electricity and cool stuff like that," Don smiled. He waved his hands around wildly, grinning like a clown who'd just taken candy from a baby. Or, for a more relatable and realistic metaphor, he looked like Buford after he'd run Baljeet's underpants up the flagpole back at my grandparents' camp. "Okay, well, I don't quite know how to do it yet, but it'll come to me."

"Doesn't everyone get a taste of their powers when they turn ten?" I asked, confused at why Don couldn't produce sparks yet.

"It depends on what type of fae they are and their body's growth speed," Pyrus told me, hopping up and holding a glass bottle with yellowish soda inside. He took a sip and licked his lips. "Some fae can't use their powers until someone shows them how to. Others, such as animal fae, can use small degrees of their powers. A select few, such as fire fae like myself, can do anything they try."

"That's complicated," I sighed. "All of this fae stuff is complicated."

"No, it's new," Corbin shrugged. "You're used to human things and human capabilities. I'm sure that you will catch on eventually. Us explaining strictly fae things to you would be like you explaining strictly human things to us. Like mayonnaise. What exactly is that?"

"You guys don't have mayonnaise?" I said, opening my eyes up wide. Pyrus frowned at Corbin.

"Seriously, Corbin, I put mayo in your toothpaste tube _all of the time_," he rolled his eyes. "By now I could've sworn you'd have had it figured out. Guess not…"

"Oh, _that's_ what that funny taste is!" Corbin chuckled. "Just a forewarning, I put pudding in Don's."

"What?!" Don exclaimed. He ran into the small bathroom and checked his toothpaste tube. "Um, no you didn't. There's still cinnamon flavored toothpaste in _this_ tube. No pudding here, thank goodness. I hate bad breath…"

"Then where'd I put the pudding…?" Corbin frowned.

"Who knows," I laughed. I pulled out my own toiletries kit and started to ready myself for bed. Don started to brush his teeth beside me. Pyrus walked in and brandished his toothpaste tube for all to see.

"It's red," he said triumphantly. "Red toothpaste."

"That's nice," Corbin said, coming over to join us. Pyrus was the last to pull out his toothbrush. While we were all occupied with brushing our own teeth, he hummed happily to himself as he wet his toothbrush and prepared to use his red toothpaste. He nearly screamed at the first squeeze of the tube.

"CORBIN FLYBY, I HATE PUDDING!" he shouted. We all stopped brushing and looked his way. Chocolate pudding was seeping out of the toothpaste tube and onto Pyrus' toothbrush. The angry look on his face said it all; he really did hate pudding.

"Oh, _there's_ where I put the pudding!" Corbin said, spitting a little bit of foamed up toothpaste on the mirror. "Oops…"

"You're going to die," Pyrus growled. "Especially if there's mushy apples…"

"Better go get those out of your bag…" Corbin said, skipping off. Great first day, guys.

* * *

**Background info- Pyrus is based off of waffleman1314. And yeah, he hates pudding. He also goes berserk over mushy apples. **


	20. Challenged

**Time to get this party started! -AJ **

* * *

"Relax, I'm sure it's easy."

"How would you know?" I frowned, looking down at Perry, who was sitting up on my bed and holding a glass of water with ice in it. He took a sip using the purple bendy straw that was hanging over the edge of the glass. "Besides, don't you have somewhere to be about now?"

"I've flown before- using various methods," Perry chattered matter-of-factly. He threw his fedora on sloppily and grinned. "And yes, I'm expected in the lair soon. But relax- my nemesis is a total failure. He'd probably thwart himself if I wasn't there…"

"You don't give this guy too much credit, do you?" I chuckled. He shook his head and took another sip of his water. "But seriously, I doubt you'd know how to fly using appendages that are actually growing out of your shoulder blades."

"You're absolutely right," Perry nodded. "I don't technically have shoulder blades."

I sighed and pulled my shirt over my head. Today, all of the first-years had to meet on the sports field for a mandatory flying lesson. This would take place every morning until we had it figured out as individuals. Once you knew what you were doing and could keep yourself suspended in air so that you didn't have to walk, you could stop attending the class and fill it in with something else.

"Okay, well, behave yourself, okay?" I told him. "Don't drive Britney crazy, okay?"

"Brittney?" Perry blinked. "What did you think we-"

"Perry, you spend every ounce of free time you get with her," I said, smirking at him. "And it's only been three days that you've even known her. Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Alright," Perry said, rolling his eyes. "I won't."

"Good," I said. I slipped my sneakers on and ran out to join Don and Corbin in the hallway. (Pyrus was still in the dining hall taking as many waffles as he could carry). They were waiting for me at the end of the boys' rooms.

"What took ya so long, Phineas?" Corbin chuckled.

"Perry," I said, rolling my eyes. "He's been following Keisha's platypus, Brittney, around ever since he met her two days ago. Not to be weird, but I'm a little concerned with his level of interest."

"Ooh," Don said, raising his eyebrows. "I sense a fear of platypups happening!"

"What?" I blinked. "No, whoa, dude, I do _not_ wanna think about _that_. I just think he's bothering her, not…gah, Don, why'd you even consider that?!"

"Phin, he's a male and he's following around a female," Don said, resisting a laugh. "If he's not fixed, you can pretty much guarantee that he's interested in her like that. It's a fact of nature, my friend."

"He's not…" I muttered.

"You'd better hope Keisha's platypus is, then," Corbin snickered. "Or I'll be calling you 'Uncle Phinny.' You like that?"

"How about you just call him what he is?" a voice said behind us. We turned around to see the kid who'd insulted me yesterday walk up behind us with the same group of kids he'd been with before. "A dirty little half-blood."

"Chris Dagley, why don't you shut your face?" Corbin growled. "I'm sure you've got human in your blood somewhere, you're just too chicken to admit it."

"You take that back, Corbin Grey!" Chris spat.

"Or what?" I said, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Yeah, like I'm scared of a weakling halblutt," Chris snorted. He stepped closer to me and looked into my eyes. I refrained from looking angry or upset; I simply looked back with determination. "You should be terrified of a pure-blood like me, Phineas. I've got Purum friends on my side that would just _love _to see your halblutt self beat to a pulp."

"Well, I'd enjoy it if we all learned to fly, first," I said, smiling a little. "After all, if you think a half-fae can't be as good as a full-fae, why don't we prove it? If I can learn to fly in roughly the same time as a full-fae, then you don't get to beat me up. If I don't, then feel free to put me in my rightful place. Deal?"

"Phin, what the heck are you doing?!" Don exclaimed. He tugged at his hair a little. "Are you mad?! He's, like, twice your size and an earth fae!"

"Alright, little half-blood," Chris nodded. "It's a deal. I'll enjoy wiping the floor with your face. See you on the loser's side, Phineas."

Chris and his friends all left for the field snickering and chuckling to themselves about my chances of winning such a bet. Don grabbed me by the shirt and spun me around to face him. His eyes were wild and his teeth were clenched.

"Are you stark mad?" he breathed. "Chris'll kill you! His parents are Purum to the core!"

"And I'm no different than he is!" I said firmly, pulling the distressed Don off of me. "We're both first-years, we're both inexperienced at using our powers, and so far, neither of us can fly. If no one stands up to a bully like him, then he'll think he has the run of us."

"Let Phineas be, Don," Corbin said softly. "Something tells me he knows what he's doing."

"Sorry," Don mumbled. He turned and we walked together out to the field, keeping our distance from Chris and his posse. "I just- I feel, like, obligated to help Phin out. All of our parents sacrificed their freedom, health, and, in some cases, lives to save Haldjas."

"Then it's _I_ who owes _you_," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"But don't you see?" Don said, shrugging a little. "If the prophecy is true, then we have to protect you until you have to battle Shadowslayer. Once people realize whose kid you are, then the Purum will try anything and everything to kill you."

I fell silent after that. It was weird to be told that you were prophesied to go up against the most powerful and dark fae of all time when you were just a ten-year-old half-fae who had just been introduced to this world less than a week ago. More than ever, I wished that I could have my friends from Danville up here with me. I felt more secure when Ferb was there backing me up, or when Buford and Baljeet were happily engaging in fun with me, or when Isabella was looking at me with her infectious smile. They would know what to do- magic or no magic.

"How long would I have, per se, before this prophecy was supposed to come true?" I asked, looking from Don to Corbin.

"Eh, most assume the beginning of the year before your eleventh birthday," Corbin said slowly. "Which would mean, in essence, around January or February."

"What?!" I gasped. I coughed and cleared my throat a little. "And, do you think, ya know, it would be easy to smuggle humans into Felhõ? At all?"

"Phin, you've gotta be kidding," Don frowned.

"I work best with my team," I told him. "And no offense, but they're human."

* * *

**So many different things going on in my head...**


End file.
